Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta, the father or mother agency of Fb, Instagram and WhatsApp, is reportedly planning a subsea cable that will “embody the world”.
The Meta logo is displayed in Paris, (File Photo)
Industry observer Roderick Beck has described it as the “most ambitious” subsea project in his blog.
Here’s all you need to know:
(1.) This would be Meta’s first fully-owned subsea cable. The social media giant is already involved in subsea cables such as 2Africa, Echo, Bifrost Havhingsten, Amite and Anjana.
(2.) According to subsea cable entrepreneur Sunil Tagare, who was the first to report Meta’s plans (in October), the project’s starting cost is $2 billion, which is expected to rise to over $10 billion as work progresses.
(3.) Two possible routes have been suggested, and India is on both. According to Beck, it would begin from the US East Coast, go down the West African Coast to South Africa, and then head straight to Mumbai, from where it would go to Australia and then end at the US West Coast.
(4.) On the other hand, Tagare said the cable would run from the east coast of the US to India with a stop in South Africa, and then from India to the west coast of the US with a stop in Australia.
(5.) Tagare has dubbed the cable “W” due to the shape of the suggested route.
The “W” route of the cable.
(6.) In India, the cable is purported to cross via services of Reliance Jio, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani.
(7.) Its whole size is estimated to be 40,000 km and the estimated capability is 320Tbps.
(8.) The next routes can be prevented as these have been “problematic” in recent times: Purple Sea, South China Sea and Egypt.
(9.) TechCrunch has reported that Meta is predicted to formally announce the venture in early 2025.
(10.) Nevertheless, it will be “years” earlier than the cable is absolutely operational.