Meta, the parent of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is the second-biggest driver of internet usage globally with its properties — and their billions of users — accounting for 10% of all fixed and 22% of all mobile traffic
The utilization of artificial intelligence is expected to be further enhanced by Meta’s investments. Meta is assuming control of the pipes to ensure that it will have a dependable infrastructure to support the business.
TechCrunch has verified with sources who are close to the company that Meta intends to construct a new, significant, fiber-optic subsea cable that will extend around the globe. This project is expected to require over $10 billion in investment and span over 40,000 kilometers.
Meta will be the exclusive proprietor and user of this subsea cable, a significant milestone in its infrastructure endeavors and a first for the company.
Sunil Tagare, a subsea cable expert and pioneer in the field (as the founder of Flag Telecom), was the first to report Meta’s plans back in October. He informed TechCrunch that the project is expected to commence with a budget of $2 billion, but it is likely that this figure will increase to over $10 billion as the project extends over years of work.
The initiative was confirmed by sources who are close to Meta; however, they stated that it is still in its early stages. While plans have been established, physical assets have not been, and they have declined to engage in discussions regarding budget.
Meta anticipates that it will provide additional public information regarding the cable in early 2025, at which time it will affirm the cable’s intended route, capacity, and some of the rationale behind its construction.
The infrastructure would not be fully operational for years if the strategy were to be implemented, as the limited number of companies, such as SubCom, that are capable of constructing it already have significant customers, such as Google, who have reserved its services.
An analyst of the submarine cable industry, Ranulf Scarborough, stated, “The supply of cable ships is extremely limited.” “At present, they are prohibitively expensive and have been reserved for years in advance.”
It is a challenge to locate the resources that are readily available to complete the task in a timely manner. He also mentioned that it is feasible to construct segments.
Meta would be granted a dedicated conduit for data traffic worldwide upon the completion of the cable.
According to sources, the cable’s current route is as follows: it will stretch from the east coast of the United States to India via South Africa, and then from India to the west coast of the United States via Australia. This will create a “W” shape around the globe, as illustrated by Tagare.
Santosh Janardhan, the company’s head of global infrastructure and co-head of engineering, supervises Meta’s infrastructure operations.
The organization maintains teams that oversee and organize its infrastructure on a global scale. Additionally, it has employed notable industry figures in the past.
Sources indicate that the organization’s South Africa site is the origin of this forthcoming initiative.
For the past four decades, fiber-optic subsea cables have been an integral component of the communications infrastructure. The significance of this situation lies in the identity of the persons who are contributing funds to the construction and ownership of the property, as well as the intended use of the funds.
Meta’s initiatives emphasize the evolution of subsea network investment and ownership in recent years, from consortiums that included telecommunications carriers to now including major technology corporations.
Meta has a history of involvement in the subsea industry. Meta is a co-owner of 16 existing networks, including the 2Africa cable that encircles the continent, said Telegeography, a telecommunications analyst. Other carriers involved in the initiative include Orange, Vodafone, China Mobile, Bayobab/MTN, and others.
Nevertheless, this new cable initiative would be the first that Meta would own entirely.
Meta would be classified in the same category as Google, which is involved in approximately 33 distinct routes, including a few regional initiatives in which it is the sole owner, according to Telegeography’s monitoring.
Amazon and Microsoft are two additional major technology companies that are either part proprietors or capacity buyers in subsea cables. It is important to note that neither of these companies are the sole owners of any route.
Why does Meta desire its own cable?
Big tech companies such as Meta would be attracted to the construction of subsea cables for a variety of reasons.
Initially, Meta would have the capacity to support traffic on its own properties before others, as it would have sole ownership of the route and cable.
According to its earnings reports, Meta generates greater revenue in markets other than North America than in its domestic market. Prioritizing dedicated subsea cabling can guarantee the quality of service for that traffic.
(Please note that this is solely to guarantee long-haul traffic; the company must still negotiate with carriers within countries and in “last-mile” delivery to users’ devices, which can present its own set of obstacles.)
Meta, similar to Google, also emphasizes the economic benefits it has brought to regions through its subsea investments. It asserts that initiatives such as Marea in Europe and others in Southeast Asia have contributed over “half a trillion dollars” to the economies of those regions.
However, there is a more pragmatic motivation behind these investments: tech companies, rather than telecommunications carriers, traditional builders, and cable owners, desire to have a more direct ownership of the pipelines necessary to deliver content, advertising, and other services to users worldwide.
Scarborough, the analyst, stated, “They derive their revenue from the presentation of their products to end users, and they will exert every effort to guarantee a positive customer experience, whether that entails the delivery of video or other assets.”
“In all honesty, who will continue to depend on conventional telecommunications providers?” In the present day, technology corporations are autonomous. They have come to the realization that they must construct it independently.
The second is geopolitical
Subsea cables have been destroyed as collateral or direct damage from warfare on numerous occasions in recent years. Houthi combatants, with the assistance of Iran, are pursuing boats and, in the process, causing damage to cables in the Red Sea, including this one that connects Europe to India.
Russia was suspected of severing a submarine cable in the Baltic Sea this month (November 2024). Another cable was lost in European waters this week, and the Chinese ship is presently being held responsible.
A source with knowledge of Meta’s operations informed TechCrunch that the company’s proposed route is designed to “avoid areas of geopolitical tension.”
In his blog post, Tagare emphasizes that the route would circumvent the Straits of Malacca, Singapore, the Straits of Malacca, Egypt, Marseilles, and the Red Sea, all of which are currently significant single points of failure.
The FCC’s announcement this month (November 2024) that it intends to review submarine cable licensing for the first time in decades, partially due to national security and cable ownership, could also serve as an additional stimulus in this regard. Meta would be the exclusive proprietor of a secure corridor route.
Although it is more speculative, there is a potential third explanation for Meta’s subsea vision.
Tagare’s theory posits that it is directly associated with the termination of cables in India. He maintains that Meta has the potential to establish data center capacity in the country, with a particular emphasis on the training and working with AI models. The subsea cable could potentially contribute to this endeavor.
He emphasizes that the cost of compute bandwidth in India is a mere fraction of that in the United States.
Additionally, there has been considerable excitement in India following the recent visit of Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, who discussed the possibility of India constructing its own AI infrastructure during a meeting with Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani.
Nvidia’s Blackwell processors will be implemented in forthcoming AI data centers by Reliance and other vendors.
In an interview, Tagare stated that India has the potential to become the world’s training capital. He is of the opinion that Meta may be interested in establishing AI training facilities in the vicinity of the infrastructure.
Meta’s infrastructure roadmap is significantly influenced by AI. However, India is a significant market for Meta, as it is the country with the highest number of users on Facebook (over 375 million), Instagram (363 million), and WhatsApp (536 million). These consumers are demonstrating a strong interest in the company’s latest features, such as its AI tools.
India remains a promising market for data centers, as evidenced by the substantial investments being made in the sector. Consequently, it is logical to include India as a landing point in the operation.
According to sources who are intimately familiar with the project, it is premature to determine whether AI is a component of the Meta equation in this project. They refer to it as a component of the “long tail” of possibilities and considerations, as well as whether Meta would expand its capacity to accommodate other users in addition to itself.
Meta declined to provide a response to this article.
