Meta just announced an ambitious new undersea internet cable project that spans over 50,000 km to connect North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The Facebook parent company is part-owner of several undersea communications cables, but this new plan, called Project Waterworth, will apparently be the first that it will solely own and operate. Meta says it will be the longest cable deployed so far and will likely cost the company over $10 billion.
The areas that Project Waterworth will connect, namely the U.S. East Coast, Brazil, South Africa, India, Australia, and then back to the U.S. West Coast, are already connected to the rest of the world via several other underwater cables. However, if Meta’s map is accurate, this project will be the first one that will directly connect Brazil to South Africa. It will also be the only one connecting India to Australia while bypassing the Strait of Malacca.
