USA - 31,000-Mile Subsea Internet Cable
Facebook owner Meta announced “Project Waterworth,” an ambitious plan to build out a globe-spanning, 31,000-mile subsea internet cable. That’s longer from end to end than the circumference of the Earth. When completed, the massive cable is expected to connect the US, Brazil, South Africa, India, and other regions along the route.
Project Waterworth will utilize a 24-fiber-pair system that Meta claims will be particularly useful for more data-intensive AI projects. For comparison, many smaller subsea cables will typically only have 8 to 16 fiber pairs.
“As AI continues to transform industries and societies around the world, it’s clear that capacity, resilience, and global reach are more important than ever to support leading infrastructure,” Meta network executives Nagarajan and Aimé said in a statement.
When completed, Meta says Project Waterworth could increase global cooperation between the connected countries and accelerate economic development, particularly in lower-income regions positioned along its routes.
Meta isn’t the only US tech company spending big on subsea cables. Just last year, Google announced plans to invest over $1 billion to build out new fiber connecting the US to Japan and other parts of the Pacific.
That trend is expected to continue. Global technology consulting firm Analysys Mason recently released a 2024 forecast estimating that the global submarine fiber-optic telecom cable market will increase from $7.96 billion in 2023 to $9.8 billion by 2029, with “significant market growth” coming from a handful of so-called “hyperscalers” like Meta. A portion of that growth will be fueled by increasing data demands related to advanced AI models. Countries worldwide are rushing to build up massive data and other physical infrastructure needed to support all that computing.
-www.popsci.com, 19 February 2025
Arno's Commentary
Communication is the key to modern life. With constantly higher speeds and improved AI, the limits are virtually boundless.
One thing becomes clear: The 31,000-mile subsea internet cable is another significant step toward globalization.
What is Meta? “…A publicly traded company owned by its shareholders. The company’s top shareholder is founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. He owned almost 350 million shares (13.5% of its outstanding shares) worth more than $120 billion as of early 2024.”
But there is more: “Facebook, now known as Meta, has made 97 acquisitions over the course of its history, spending over $28 billion on them. These acquisitions include WhatsApp, Instagram, Ozlo, Presize, and Supernatural.21.”
In conclusion, Investopedia.com summarizes: “Meta is one of the largest companies in the world and a leading technology firm. While it started out as Facebook, the company now owns and operates some of the largest social media platforms in the world, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, making it a true powerhouse in the technology world.”
While much of the scientific and technological jargon may not be fully understood by the common man, the fact remains that without information, nothing would exist.
Here we are reminded of the original source of information: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1-3).
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
