Meta has announced a new subsea cable initiative called Project Waterworth that aims to be the world’s longest submarine cable system at over 50,000 kilometers (31,069 miles) — longer than the earth’s 40,075 kilometer (24,902 miles) circumference. The project, the latest evidence of the company’s recent transformation, will connect five continents using 24 fiber pairs, targeting major regions including the U.S., India, Brazil, and South Africa. For the sake of comparison, most new-generation cables have 8–16 pairs. Google’s recent cables—such as Equiano (2019) and Dunant (2021)—use 12 fiber pairs.
Meta says the multi-billion dollar initiative will enhance global digital infrastructure, supporting AI development while bolstering connectivity between continents.
The project incorporates several technical advances. There’s deep-water routing at depths up to 7,000 meters and what Meta describes as enhanced burial techniques in high-risk areas near coastlines. The system is being designed to provide increased capacity and reliability compared to typical subsea cables. This infrastructure is intended to support growing digital needs, including intercontinental data traffic.
Deep-water routing to 7,000 meters
Project Waterworth specs:
• Length: Over 50,000 km.
• Fiber Pairs: 24 (compared to the typical 8–16 pairs).
• Coverage: Connects 5 continents, connecting the U.S., India, Brazil, and South Africa.
• Routing: Deep-water routing down to 7,000 m to avoid high-risk coastal zones.
• Protection: Uses what Meta terms “enhanced burial techniques” in vulnerable near-shore areas.
• Performance: High-capacity, low-latency design aimed at supporting massive intercontinental data flows and AI workloads.
Another unique aspect of Waterworth is its route design for deployment in deep ocean waters, descending to depths of 7,000 meters (roughly 23,000 ft) to avoid shallow coastal regions where ships’ anchors, fishing nets, and general human activity commonly damage cables. Laying the cable on the deep seabed decreases the likelihood of physical interference, thus reducing one of the primary causes of subsea cable faults. This strategy, described as “first-of-its-kind,” is central to Waterworth’s emphasis on maximizing reliability.
Where cables inevitably pass through higher-risk areas such as near shorelines or fault zones, Meta notes that it will tap advanced burial techniques to shield the cable from trawling, anchoring, and seismic activity. Given that 40% of subsea cable faults worldwide originate from anchoring and fishing operations, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, such proactive measures aim to minimize downtime and reinforce resilience in hazard-prone segments.
Although the infrastructure is physical, Meta has emphasized the AI-centric rationale behind Waterworth. For instance, the cable’s robust design ensures the high-capacity, low-latency data transfer key for modern AI workloads, including large-scale machine learning and distributed cloud computing. Waterworth’s capacity is likely to handle massive intercontinental data flows that power Meta’s AI platforms. The company has also indicated plans to integrate AI-based monitoring for cable health and to optimize traffic routing. Project Waterworth aligns with Meta’s broader AI strategy in recent years, which includes in 2025 plans for $60–65 billion in annual investments, a 2+ gigawatt data center, and the deployment of 1.3 million Nvidia GPUs to support AI initiatives such as the Llama 4 language model and the Meta AI Digital Assistant.
A stronger foundational backbone for global traffic
A recent BBC article estimates a common estimate that 95% of intercontinental data relies on submarine cables. By integrating novel deep-water routing, enhanced burial, and 24-fiber-pair capacity, Waterworth aims to become arguably the most forward-looking subsea infrastructure in operation. The high throughput and resilience will likely serve both consumer-facing platforms (think Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) and advanced AI-driven applications, spanning consumer-facing technologies as well as internal AI-based tools to streamline software development.
Professor Vili Lehdonvirta of the Oxford Internet Institute told the BBC that the Meta news aligns with a broader trend of Big Tech companies laying such deep sea cables when telecoms tended to lead similar efforts in the past. “Over the past decade there has been a shift in which these cables are increasingly laid by large technology companies,” Lehdonvirta said.
In any event, Project Waterworth signals a strategic pivot for Meta toward owning and operating core digital infrastructure. While the company has participated in over 20 subsea cable co-investments, this multi-billion-dollar endeavor marks a move toward full ownership. Such autonomy reduces reliance on third-party carriers and follows a broader industry trend where major tech firms (Google, Microsoft, Amazon) increasingly control global subsea bandwidth.
