Meta Unveils Petal: A Transatlantic Subsea Cable Delivering 1 Petabit per Second by 2029

Introducing the Petal Project

According to НВ — Техно: Meta has revealed plans for Petal, a new transatlantic subsea cable set to connect the United States and France. Stretching over 4,300 miles, this cable will break records with a staggering capacity of 1 petabit per second. Scheduled to go live in 2029, Petal will be the first subsea cable in the world to reach petabit-class speeds.

Innovative Technical Design

Currently, nearly 99% of global internet traffic relies on underwater cables. The Petal cable features an advanced design with 24 pairs of dual-core fibers-equivalent to 48 conventional single-core pairs. This approach doubles data throughput without increasing the cable's size or power consumption. Engineers achieved this by embedding two independent optical cores within a single standard glass fiber, utilizing ultra-pure synthetic silicon, precise refractive index tuning, and counter-propagating optical signals.

To maintain signal integrity across the Atlantic Ocean floor, around 100 repeaters will be installed, operating at a standard voltage of 18 kV. A specially engineered 96-amp amplifier for Petal includes a system that separates and recombines optical streams, enabling the splitting of dual-core fibers into two individual strands for amplification before merging them back at the output. This cutting-edge technology doubles the capacity offered by Meta's previous Anjana cable, significantly enhancing international data transmission capabilities.

As global demand for high-speed internet surges-driven by increasing globalization and digital transformation-Petal represents a major advancement in subsea infrastructure. Beyond expanding data transfer potential, this cable promises to improve connection speed and reliability between the US and Europe, benefiting sectors such as business, education, and beyond.