In spite of the fact that it is still years away from becoming a reality, the cable would provide Meta with increased ownership of its infrastructure.
According to reports, Meta is in the process of planning a fiber-optic subsea internet connection that will circumnavigate the entire planet and might cost more than ten billion dollars. It is possible that the project, which was initially revealed by Sunil Tagare, a specialist on subsea cables, may be formally launched in the beginning of the next year. In spite of this, individuals connected to Meta have informed TechCrunch that the project is still in its preliminary phases.
There are just a handful of contractors who would be able to construct that infrastructure, and the most of them are already committed to other customers. In the event that the project is successful, it is highly probable that it will take a number of years before the cable is laid and the power is turned on.
It is said that Meta is a part-owner of more than a dozen subsea networks; nevertheless, this would be the first one that it owns and manages wholly on its own. Even though Amazon and Microsoft do not have any specialized cables of their own, Google does have a handful of its own, and they are also part owners of others. Meta is expected to be the only user of its cable, according to reports. It is estimated that the corporation and the services it provides are responsible for approximately ten percent of the globe’s fixed internet usage (and approximately twenty-two percent of mobile traffic).
The revenue that Meta generates from international markets is currently more than the revenue that it generates from North American markets. The cable would give it a stronger ownership over its infrastructure, with the goal of ensuring that its services are as stable as possible. However, Internet service providers and cell providers will still be responsible for ensuring that consumers’ devices remain connected. The Wi-Fi and mobile internet projects that Meta worked on were both completed in 2022, however the former was terminated by the company.
Before reaching the west coast of the United States, it is anticipated that the cable will first travel from the east coast of the United States to South Africa, then to India, and finally to the north shore of Australia. Taking everything into consideration, the cable might be at least 25,000 miles long.
The ostensibly secure path would steer clear of regions that are characterized as having “major single points of failure,” as stated by Tagare. The Red Sea, the South China Sea, Egypt, Marseilles, the Straits of Malacca, and Singapore are some of the places that fall within this category. In addition to this, it would avoid a high number of geopolitical flashpoints.
The Baltic Sea has seen the severed of two underwater cables over the course of the past few of weeks. According to the findings of the investigation, the cables were severed by a Chinese commercial trawler that was dragging its anchor down the seabed. It is possible that the trawler was acting under the control of Russian intelligence.