Meta has announced plans to lay an unprecedented submarine fiber optic cable named Petal, which will have twice the capacity of any currently existing or planned undersea cable. This 7,000 km (4,350 miles) cable will connect the United States with France. Meta is collaborating with technology firms NEC and Sumitomo Electric Industries on the construction, and is coordinating with French telecommunications provider Orange for the cable’s landing site in France.
Petal is set to surpass the capacity of even the fastest transoceanic cables available today. For instance, AWS recently announced plans for a 320 terabits per second cable between the U.S. and Ireland, and there is a project for a cable connecting Australia and the U.S. that will provide 400 terabits per second.
The surge in demand for increased data connectivity has led to an expansion in the deployment of subsea cables. However, this development has raised concerns among U.S. lawmakers regarding potential security risks associated with undersea cables. Some legislators have voiced requests for major service providers to disclose details about their existing cable infrastructures. These concerns are amplified by the number of security incidents involving subsea cables.
