Meta’s Project Waterworth will lay more than 50,000km of undersea cable around the world

A short while ago Meta was rumoured to be working on a very ambitious undersea project. It has since confirmed Project Waterworth, a plan to span most of the world’s continents with its own internet infrastructure.

The project will see the social media giant lay enough of its own cable to more than circle the globe (at its widest point, obviously. Five continents will be connected by the project, helping to “enable greater economic cooperation, facilitate digital inclusion, and open opportunities for technological development in these regions.”

What is internet Waterworth?

Key countries being connected include South Africa, the USA, Brazil, and India among others. There are innovations involved, leading Meta to claim to be making “the longest 24 fiber pair cable project in the world”. The project will be speedier to deploy than usual (apparently) and the cable itself will be laid at depths of up to 7km.

The project will still take several years — don’t expect a substantial internet upgrade any time this year. It will also cost several billions of dollars (even more in South African currency) but Waterworth will allow Meta to “[open] three new oceanic corridors with the abundant, high speed connectivity needed to drive AI innovation around the world.”

Of course, this is all marketing terminology. Meta’s apparent benevolence will benefit the company by opening up potential customers to its current and future services. The official announcement is a little light on that reality, as might be expected. That’s how PR works, after all.