Meta plans a 4,300-mile undersea cable linking the United States to France, targeting petabit-scale capacity by 2029

Meta is building a new undersea fiber cable intended to strengthen internet capacity between the United States and France, with an expected service start in 2029, according to a report shared by Yahoo Finance.

The project is described as roughly a 4,300-mile subsea network that will be the first to deliver petabit-scale capacity across an ocean, positioning it around the next step in long-haul bandwidth growth as demand for data-intensive services continues to rise.

Petabit-scale capacity generally refers to total transmission capability on the order of one quadrillion bits per second across the cable system, a scale aimed at supporting far more traffic than current generation links. For a company whose businesses rely on large-scale data movement, that kind of capacity is usually intended to reduce bottlenecks and keep latency-sensitive applications performing as usage grows.

Undersea cables are the backbone of international connectivity, and new builds typically take years to plan, permit, lay, and test. Meta’s stated timeline suggests the company is treating the cable as a long-term infrastructure investment rather than a near-term add-on, with the 2029 in-service date reflecting the duration of engineering and installation work.

While the Yahoo Finance post emphasizes the cable’s scale and planned entry into service, it does not provide additional operational details in the material available here, such as the number of fiber pairs, the specific landing locations, the cable supplier or consortium structure, or whether Meta is funding the build alone or as part of a broader telecom arrangement.

The company also did not disclose, in the information provided, how the petabit-scale capability would translate into internal network upgrades, specific traffic forecasts, or any service-level commitments to customers and partners. For example, it is not stated whether the system is intended primarily for Meta’s own backbone use, for wholesale capacity sales, or for a mix of internal and third-party traffic.

More broadly, Meta’s move fits a wider industry pattern in which hyperscale internet providers, cloud platforms, and large content networks invest in new undersea systems to secure future capacity. As video, messaging, and AI-driven services expand, these companies often look to dense bandwidth routes to keep throughput high and network congestion lower.

For now, the key unknowns are operational and contractual, not technical headline figures. The build’s precise configuration, the commercial terms, and the path from completed cable to usable capacity are not detailed in the reported material here, leaving investors and network observers to watch for additional disclosures from Meta or from project partners as planning progresses.