Meta unveils Petal, first petabit-class transoceanic subsea cable, live in 2029
Meta_Engineers · x · 2026-09-22
Meta announced Petal, the world's first petabit-class transoceanic subsea cable, spanning 7,000 km between France and the US with 1 Pbps capacity — double today's most advanced transatlantic systems, roughly the bandwidth for 75% of the world's population to stream music simultaneously.
Key points:
- First subsea system to deploy multi-core fiber at scale, doubling per-fiber capacity without proportional power or infrastructure increases.
- Built with NEC and Sumitomo Electric, with French landing support from Orange; service expected in 2029.
- A cornerstone of Meta's subsea investment for European capacity and resiliency; subsea cables carry 99% of intercontinental data traffic.
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