Why Meta has launched a giant underwater cable adventure
Fish, Whales and Wi-Fi
Meta—the tech giant that owns WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook - has just announced the most extravagant project ever. They are building a 50,000-kilometer-long underwater cable that’s longer than the Earth’s circumference (which is about 40,000 kilometers, in case you were wondering). Meta is trying to wrap the planet in a giant internet shoelace.
This cable, called Project Waterworth (because apparently naming it "FishTube" was too obvious), will connect five whole continents: North America, South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. And guess what? India is going to be the ONE OF THE PRIME NODAL POINTS of this whole operation. Because India is Meta’s BIGGEST market. Translation: there are a LOT of people in India scrolling through cat videos and memes, and Meta wants to make sure they never, ever run out of data.
Meta says this project is all about boosting connectivity along the world’s "digital highways." But the truth is that is not just about cables and oceans. This is about the next big battlefield: forget space wars; the future is all about underwater cable sabotage. Imagine James Bond, but instead of a fancy car, he’s in a submarine with a pair of wire cutters.
Every week on the Lighter Side, I write about one news story. This week, we’re diving into the deep blue sea—literally—because the tech world has decided that fish and whales need a new kind of neighbour: giant underwater internet cables. But here’s where it gets fishy (pun absolutely intended). This isn’t just about data and transfers. These cables are like the secret tunnels of the internet, and whoever controls them basically controls the flow of information.
Either way, the fish are probably rolling their eyes and saying, “Can’t you humans just leave the ocean alone for five minutes?”
What is an underwater sea cable?
The data we use every day—whether you are watching a YouTube video or reading this very post—is stored in something called the “cloud.” But don’t let the name fool you; the cloud is not a fluffy thing in the sky. It is a giant network of computers packed with information. When you hit play on that video, the data is picked up from the cloud and sent to your device. Most of that journey happens through cables lying on the ocean floor. Oftentimes a school of fish and sharks watch your cat videos before you do.
These underwater cables are the unsung heroes of the internet, handling about 95% of the world’s international data. Sure, satellites are cool, but they’re like the expensive sports cars of data transmission—flashy but not as practical. Cables, on the other hand, are the workhorses, carrying way more data at a fraction of the cost. And here’s the kicker: these cables are laid on the ocean floor, sometimes as deep as 8,000 meters (that’s like burying Mount Everest underwater, but with Wi-Fi).
Laying these cables is no small feat. First, someone at a desk plans the route like they’re plotting a treasure map. Then, a ship loaded with miles of coiled cable sets sail, carefully dropping the cable as it goes. And no, they don’t just toss it overboard like yesterday’s trash—it’s gently lowered, sometimes taking up to 20 hours to reach the ocean floor. What’s truly mind-blowing is that these cables are designed to sit quietly in the ocean for 25 years or more, working perfectly despite the pressure, the cold, and the occasional curious octopus. It’s a mix of physics, marine tech, and engineering wizardry, all coming together to create something that lets us all binge-watch shows on Netflix while munching our potato chips and popcorn.
What is unusual about Meta’s cable laying plan?
If you take another peek at the map of Meta’s underwater cable plan, you’ll notice something clever: the cable’s route is like a masterclass for spies and detectives. Meta has carefully steered clear of hotspots like the Red Sea, the South China Sea, Egypt, and the Malacca Strait—places where politics and conflicts turn everything into a giant mess. Instead, the cable takes a more straightforward path, connecting the U.S. and India with pit stops in South Africa and maybe Australia. This way, Project Waterworth can avoid getting tangled in political fights, ensuring it stays out of trouble and keeps the internet flowing smoothly.
The million-dollar (or rather, billion-dollar) question
This route also means that the data will travel a longer path. This makes it far more expensive for Meta to lay the cables and keep them operating over the next 25 years. Each time we have heavy rains, our electricity cables snap, and our friendly neighbourhood technician climbs a few poles, stands on a ledge and fixes them. Now, imagine the havoc underwater caused by moving tectonic plates, sea creatures, ships, and weather disruptions. They’ll have to send a team of deep-sea divers and a submarine every time a cable snaps to fix it!
Is Meta’s decision to avoid risky areas worth the extra billions of dollars in costs? As it turns out, India might be one of the answers to this question. Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp have over a billion users in India alone, making it Meta’s single largest market. To ensure that people in India stay glued to their platforms, Meta’s strategy is to guarantee uninterrupted access to data through this long-routed underwater sea cable.
Plus, India is emerging as one of the major hubs for AI adoption. This means more people from India will use chatbots like DeepSeek and ChatGPT to get to do their work. Meta expects that India’s demand for fast connectivity will grow even more rapidly. When President Trump and Prime Minister Modi shook hands last week and smiled for the cameras, this underwater cable network was one of their key talking points.
The last time Meta wanted to serve another big emerging market—Africa—the company didn’t go all out to invest in these cables on its own. Instead, it joined a consortium of other tech companies, splitting the costs with them. But this time, the focus on the Indian market is much bigger, and Project Waterworth appears to be fully owned and controlled by Meta—meaning they will also bear the entire cost of laying and operating it. This project can cost them about $10 billion.
Are undersea cables targets during wars and conflicts?
More than 100 years ago, as the Spanish-American War raged near the island of Cuba, the U.S. Navy decided to change its target. Instead of blowing up enemy ships, they set their sights on a massive lead-clad telegraph cable weighing several tons, lying on the ocean floor. One of the men on this mission was Lt. Cameron Winslow of the U.S. Navy. The weather wasn’t cooperating—the water was rough, and the waves were high. Yet, the soldiers persisted. They managed to haul the giant underwater cable from the seabed and cut it using hacksaws. This cable was responsible for telegraph communications, and with it severed, the enemy lost contact with the world.
To this day, subsea communication cables remain a target during times of geopolitical tension. These cables now facilitate trillions of dollars’ worth of financial transactions daily, carry sensitive government communications, deliver voice calls, and transmit data across the internet. A blow to a country’s internet infrastructure can bring the nation to its knees.
More recently, after the beginning of the Ukraine war, Sweden and Finland began seeing cases of sabotage to the underwater cable system in the Baltic Sea. Soon after this, NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) sent more naval ships to patrol the Baltic Sea, as even more power cables, telecom and gas pipelines came under attack.
The Europeans got sufficiently hassled by these attacks on underwater cables that the European Commission spent almost a billion euros to boost surveillance of undersea cables and sent a fleet of emergency repair vessels.
“We want to make sure Europe is equipped not only to prevent and detect sabotage to cables but also to actively deter, repair and respond to any threat to critical infrastructure,” Henna Virkkunen, the executive vice president in charge of security at the Commission, said.
Another instance when underwater cables were damaged was during the Gaza-Israel conflict. A few cables in the Red Sea were damaged and just like that, 25% of the data traffic between Asia and Europe went poof. Were these cables deliberately snipped? Maybe, maybe not. They could’ve just been innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire of naval ships playing Battleship in real life. But here’s the kicker: when these cables go down, entire regions get hit with an internet blackout. That’s right—no memes, no cat videos, no doom-scrolling. Just silence. And for the people living there, it’s not just about missing out on TikTok trends or Instagram reels; it’s about losing access to critical information. So, while the ships duke it out above, the internet takes a nosedive below.
Countries worldwide are growing paranoid about protecting their underwater cables as part of their defense strategy. For example, the UK’s National Security Strategy is figuring out if the country is doing enough to protect its undersea cable infrastructure from threats (because apparently, even cables need bodyguards now). They also want to make sure the country is prepared to handle a major, long-term internet blackout. Because nothing says “national resilience” like making sure your Netflix doesn’t buffer during a crisis.
With all these fears of conflicts raging around, Meta’s 10 billion dollar bet to lay a cable that is extra long avoiding conflict zones, seems not too bad.
If you enjoyed this newsletter (and let’s be honest, who wouldn’t enjoy a deep dive into the world of underwater cables and internet drama?), please share it with anyone you think might appreciate knowing a thing or two about the world around us. Not only will it help me grow my audience and make me famous, but every time I see a post being shared, it brings a wide, cheesy grin to my face. So go ahead, spread some knowledge and some cheer!
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References
Share of satellites in internet traffic
Frequently asked questions about how underwater cables work