Margo Anderson of IEEE Spectrum reports that Meta’s new 50,000 km undersea fiber optic network, called Waterworth, aims to connect five continents with cutting-edge technology. While the project promises significant advancements, it also faces challenges, particularly geopolitical concerns. The network is designed to skirt key global hotspots, most notably avoiding the South China Sea and the Red Sea, a region fraught with tension. Following a trend of tech giants like Google investing in undersea cables, Meta’s initiative raises questions about the true technological impact, the selection of landing points, and the need for nearby data centers. The project’s full potential remains unclear as more details emerge. Anderson writes:
When Meta announced its plans for a vast new fiber optic network covering 50,000 kilometers and linking five continents last month, the company’s selling point was cutting-edge undersea cable tech. What went unsaid, however, was the geopolitical challenges the project might also face […]
The company is hardly alone as a private player extending long fiber optic routes across oceans. Last year Google, for instance, announced a US $1 billion investment in undersea cables connecting the U.S. to Japan. […]
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