Project Waterworth – an ambitious five-continent subsea cable spanning 50,000 km (longer than the Earth’s circumference) is Meta’s most ambitious project to date. Announced in February, it would be the longest subsea cable project in the world using the highest-capacity technology available. A multibillion-dollar project, Project Waterworth is envisaged to take years to complete.
“Project Waterworth will bring industry-leading connectivity to the U.S., India, Brazil, South Africa, and other key regions. This project will enable greater economic cooperation, facilitate digital inclusion, and open opportunities for technological development in these regions,” Meta said in its website.
From the map it provided, other key regions include Southeast Asia and Australia; while avoiding conflict zones and chokepoints like the Baltic, Red Sea, South China Sea and the Straits of Malacca. The proposed route also laid out cable landing points – coastlines of three BRICS countries (India, South Africa and Brazil) and three Quad countries (India, Australia and the United States).
India’s Central Role
India appears to be the focal point with Meta specifically saying the cable will support India’s digital economy. “With the world’s largest population, India is both a massive source of data to train Meta’s AI products and an emerging hub for data centres,” according to a report by maritime-executive.com.
By bypassing traditional routes and taking a direct route between the US and India, Project Waterworth aims to ensure long-term security and reliability. However, it would result in increased latency and regulatory hurdles, particularly in India, where obtaining permits for marine surveys and installations is notoriously complex and time-consuming, as reported by telecomsinfrastructure.com.
Cable Resilience
Meta plans to use advanced engineering design to maintain cable resilience; among others, it plans to build the longest 24 fiber pair cable project in the world and enhance overall speed of deployment. The technology giant will deploy first-of-its-kind routing, maximizing the cable laid in deep water — at depths up to 7,000 meters — and using enhanced burial techniques in high-risk fault areas, such as shallow waters near the coast, to avoid damage from ship anchors and other hazards. This would also make it harder for malicious actors to spy on or sabotage it.
Meta, together with fellow US hyperscalers Google, Microsoft and Amazon, represent about three quarters of active submarine cable capacity worldwide.
Subsea cable projects are the backbone of global digital infrastructure, accounting for more than 95% of intercontinental traffic across the world’s oceans to seamlessly enable digital communication, video experiences, online transactions, and more.