Brief
Meta announces Petal, a 4,300‑mile subsea cable linking the U.S. and France
The 4,300‑mile Petal cable, built with NEC, Sumitomo Electric and Orange, is slated to begin service in 2029.
By Felo News Desk · Published
Meta said on Sept. 21 that it is building Petal, a roughly 4,300‑mile subsea cable that will connect the United States and France. The company expects the cable to enter service in 2029 and to deliver petabit‑scale capacity, roughly 1 petabit per second, which Meta says is enough for three‑quarters of the world’s population to stream music simultaneously.
Petal uses two‑core fiber that fits two light paths inside each strand, allowing Meta to double capacity without a proportional increase in power or physical infrastructure. The project is being developed with Japan’s NEC and Sumitomo Electric Industries, while French telecom Orange will handle the landing on France’s Atlantic coast.
Meta’s undersea‑cable portfolio now spans six continents, excluding Antarctica, and includes more than 20 projects. The most ambitious, Project Waterworth announced in Feb. 2025, will stretch over 31,000 miles across five continents. Meta also co‑owns the MAREA cable between Virginia and Spain with Microsoft and Telxius.
While Meta has not disclosed the cost of Petal or Waterworth, the company’s broader strategy links its expanding data‑center network to the massive data flows required by products such as its Muse AI agent, which launched on Sept. 8 and quickly topped the U.S. App Store.
Key facts
- Meta announced the Petal subsea cable on Sept. 21, connecting the U.S. and France. (fortune.com)
- Petal will be about 4,300 miles long and deliver 1 petabit per second, slated for service in 2029. (fortune.com)
- The cable uses two‑core fiber with two light paths per strand. (fortune.com)
- NEC and Sumitomo Electric are development partners; Orange will handle the French landing. (fortune.com)
- Meta’s undersea‑cable projects now cover six continents and total more than 20 cables. (fortune.com)
Sources
- [1] fortune.com — originally reported as “Meta is building one of the world's biggest undersea cable networks—it's just one piece of a growing seafloor empire spanning 6 continents”
