Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has long been a powerhouse in global internet usage, with its services driving 10% of all fixed internet traffic and 22% of mobile traffic worldwide. As Meta continues to expand its artificial intelligence capabilities and global reach, the company is taking a bold step to ensure it has the infrastructure to support its growing business: by building its own subsea fiber-optic cable network.

TechCrunch has confirmed, through sources close to the company, that Meta plans to construct a new, massive subsea cable that will span over 40,000 kilometers across the globe. This project is estimated to cost upwards of $10 billion, and notably, Meta will be the sole owner and operator of the cable, marking a significant milestone in its infrastructure strategy.

The project, initially reported by subsea cable expert Sunil Tagare, is expected to start with a budget of around $2 billion but could grow as the network expands. Meta’s plans to invest heavily in this new subsea cable highlight its commitment to long-term infrastructure development, which could take several years to complete.

Sources indicate that the cable will connect the East Coast of the U.S. to India via South Africa, and then extend to the West Coast of the U.S. through Australia, forming a “W” shape around the globe. This dedicated route is expected to provide Meta with exclusive control over data traffic, ensuring optimal service for its vast global user base.

Despite the ambitious scope of the project, Meta has yet to finalize physical plans or the cable’s full specifications. The company is expected to release more details in early 2025, including the planned route, capacity, and the reasons behind building such an infrastructure.

Meta’s decision to take ownership of its subsea cable infrastructure comes at a time when Big Tech companies are increasingly looking to control the data pipelines that power their global services. Traditionally, telecom carriers and consortiums of companies have built and maintained subsea cables, but in recent years, tech giants like Google and Meta have become significant players in this space.

While Meta already has a stake in 16 existing subsea networks — including the 2Africa cable that encircles Africa — this new subsea cable would be its first fully owned and operated route. This move places Meta in the same category as Google, which has a hand in 33 subsea routes, including some it fully owns.

There are several key reasons why Meta is opting for sole ownership of its subsea cable:

1. Optimized Network Traffic: By owning the cable, Meta will ensure that its traffic, including user data and advertising content, has priority on the network. This is especially important as Meta generates more revenue outside of North America than in its home market, making quality, uninterrupted service a top priority.
2. Geopolitical Considerations: Subsea cables are increasingly vulnerable to geopolitical tensions. In recent years, cables have been damaged during conflicts, such as those in the Red Sea and the Baltic Sea. Meta’s proposed cable route is designed to avoid areas with high geopolitical risks, such as the Red Sea, South China Sea, and the Strait of Malacca, ensuring a more secure and resilient global infrastructure.
3. AI Infrastructure Potential: Another speculative reason for the cable’s route involves Meta’s ambitions in artificial intelligence. As India becomes a key market for Meta with over 375 million Facebook users and the company increasingly invests in AI, the subsea cable could play a pivotal role in supporting AI model training and data processing in the region. India’s relatively low cost for compute bandwidth and growing interest in AI infrastructure make it a logical destination for Meta’s expanded data center capacity.

Meta’s decision to build and own its own subsea cable marks a turning point in how tech companies approach the internet infrastructure that powers their services. With the rising demand for reliable, fast data transmission — driven by everything from social media to AI-powered applications — owning the “pipes” gives companies like Meta greater control over service quality, cost, and global reach.

As Meta continues to invest in artificial intelligence, data centers, and content delivery, this subsea cable could be an essential part of its infrastructure roadmap. It also signals a shift in the industry, as Big Tech companies move away from relying on traditional telecom carriers and instead build their own global networks to support their rapidly expanding digital ecosystems.

For now, the project is still in its early stages, but with Meta’s track record of bold investments and technological advancements, this subsea cable could reshape the way internet traffic flows around the globe — and potentially pave the way for a new era of AI-driven infrastructure.

By Impact Lab