Meta Proposes 7,000-km Petal Cable Linking US and France at Petabit Scale
Updated
Updated · Computerworld · Sep 25
Meta Proposes 7,000-km Petal Cable Linking US and France at Petabit Scale
3 articles · Updated · Computerworld · Sep 25
Summary
Meta outlined Petal, a 7,000 km subsea cable linking the US and France that it says would be the first petabit-class transatlantic fiber system.
NEC and Sumitomo Electric Industries are set to build the cable, while Orange is coordinating its landing on the French coast.
Petal would deliver more than double the capacity of today’s fastest transoceanic cables, extending an industry push for bigger links as data demand rises.
Recent rival projects include AWS’s planned 320 Tbit/s US-Ireland cable and a 400 terabits-per-second Australia-US system announced in January.
That buildout is also drawing scrutiny in Washington, where lawmakers want more disclosure from major providers after repeated security incidents involving subsea cables.
As Meta builds a revolutionary 1-petabit transatlantic cable, how will they protect this massive data artery from rising covert deep-sea sabotage?
Beyond the hype of petabit speeds, how will private tech giants defend deep-sea infrastructure when traditional radar fails to spot covert threats?
Breaking the Petabit Barrier: Meta’s Petal Cable, Multi-Core Fiber, and the Next Generation of Transoceanic Connectivity
Overview
Meta’s Petal cable, announced in September 2026, marks a major leap in global connectivity by using multi-core fiber (MCF) technology to deliver 1 petabit per second of transatlantic capacity by 2029. This shift from traditional single-core scaling overcomes physical and power limits, doubling capacity without increasing cable size. The Petal system’s advanced design, including specialized repeaters and efficient manufacturing, enables massive real-time data replication needed for AI and digital services. As hyperscale tech giants increasingly control undersea cable capacity, traditional ISPs face reduced negotiating power, highlighting both the benefits and challenges of this new era in global internet infrastructure.