Meta Chooses Mumbai, Vizag for Waterworth Undersea Cable

Meta Platforms has chosen Mumbai and Visakhapatnam as the landing sites for the Indian phase of its multi-billion-dollar and 50,000 km long undersea cable project, Waterworth.

• Meta Platforms has selected Mumbai and Visakhapatnam as the landing sites for the Indian phase of its multi-billion-dollar undersea cable project, Waterworth.
• The company that owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp has appointed Sify Technologies as its landing partner in India under a contract worth approximately 5 million dollars. Google has also partnered with Sify for the landing of its 400 million dollar Blue-Raman subsea cable in India.
• These deals between Meta and Google highlight the growing investments of big data companies in India’s digital infrastructure and the country’s increasing strategic importance in the global data connectivity network.
• India’s subsea cable ecosystem has witnessed a massive increase in capacity over the past three years. Apart from Meta and Google, Indian telecom operators such as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are also investing heavily in cable systems to tap into the rising data demand in the South Asian nation.

Undersea Cable Project, Waterworth

• The over 50,000 km long Waterworth is set to become the world’s longest subsea cable system, connecting the United States, India, Brazil, and South Africa.
• Its distinctive W-shaped route bypasses the volatile Red Sea corridor, which has recently become a hotspot for cable damage amid Houthi rebel activity. The cable is expected to go live in 2030.
• This project could be particularly transformative for India, positioning it as a potential global hub for AI infrastructure. Meta may also consider data localization due to changing legal requirements.

Other Investments in India’s Subsea Cable Ecosystem

• India’s subsea cable ecosystem is witnessing a significant surge in capacity. Bharti Airtel launched the C-ME-WE 6 cable system in December 2024 and has made major investments in 2Africa Pearls — currently the world’s longest subsea cable system.
• Reliance Jio is set to begin the cable landing for the India-Asia-Express and India-Europe-Express cable networks, which are expected to multiply India’s installed capacity several times over.
• Tata Communications already owns the TGN-IA2 cable and is part of the consortium operating the Asia Direct Network.
• The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) expects the global submarine communication cable market to grow from 27.57 billion dollars in 2023 to 40.58 billion dollars by 2028, at an annual compound growth rate of 7.2%. The Indian market, the fastest-growing in the Asia-Pacific region, is expected to reach 78.6 billion dollars by 2030.