Meta plans to build the Petal submarine internet cable between the US and France, spanning approximately 7 thousand kilometers. The line is targeted to enter service in 2029 and offer a capacity of 1 petabit per second. The company says this capacity is approximately twice that of advanced transoceanic cables. The project involves NEC, Sumitomo Electric Industries, and Orange in France.
Why it matters
If completed, Petal would stand out as a connection capable of approximately doubling the targeted capacity of the internet infrastructure between the US and France; for this reason, it is a project worth monitoring for parties that need transoceanic data connections. However, the cable is not yet operational, and the announced figure of 1 petabit per second represents a design target, not current performance. The projected 2029 service date also shows that the project’s impact cannot be measured today. The main unresolved issue is whether the targeted capacity and schedule can be maintained during implementation, as well as how NEC, Sumitomo Electric Industries, and Orange’s responsibilities in the project will be shared.
Background
The US is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: we have published 49 articles mentioning the country in the past 90 days; the most recent is dated 23 September 2026.