SoylentNews

Arthur T Knackerbracket [soylentnews.org] writes:

EDITORS: THIS HAS BEEN PRODUCED BY SOFTWARE UNDER DEVELOPMENT - THE CONTENT MAY REQUIRE EXTENSIVE EDITING

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/iran-conflict-delays-metas-2africa-undersea-cable-project-cable-layer-declares-force-majeure-says-it-can-no-longer-safely-operate-in-the-persian-gulf [tomshardware.com]

While Meta [fb.com] announced the completion of the core of the project, it’s still working on the Pearls section of the network, which was intended to connect Persian Gulf states, including Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Oman, as well as Pakistan and India, to the rest of Africa and several European countries. The publication says that the bulk of the undersea cable has already been laid but is yet to be connected to the onshore landing stations.

Aside from the trouble in the Middle East, undersea cables in Europe [tomshardware.com] and East Asia are constantly under threat [tomshardware.com] from being cut by ships that are part of “shadow fleets” — vessels with murky ownerships but often indirectly controlled by states like Russia and China conducting hybrid warfare. Because of this, Meta has been planning to build a 50,000-km (30,000-mile) long undersea cable that will bypass current geopolitical hotspots called Project Waterworth [tomshardware.com]. But despite being announced for 2025, it’s expected that it will take several more years before it is completed and goes online.

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