Story perspectives

Meta’s Petal cable to link US and France in 2029

By Drooid · Sep 25, 2026, 10:27 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Meta announced the Petal subsea cable will link the United States and France.
Petal will begin service in 2029 and span roughly 7,000 km (4,300 miles).
The cable provides 1 petabit per second capacity, twice today’s best transatlantic cables.
NEC will design and construct the 24-pair system using two-core multi-core fiber.
Orange will handle the French landing and connect the cable to the European network.

History

Historical Context

In July 1866 the Atlantic Telegraph Company, financed by Cyrus West Field, laid a 2,500-mile copper-gutta-percha cable between New York and Valentia Island, establishing the first reliable transatlantic telegraph service that transmitted eight words per minute. Meta’s Petal fiber, built by NEC and landed via Orange in France, mirrors that breakthrough by delivering a one-petabit-per-second Atlantic link, reshaping global data flow.

1 of 2

Story summary

Meta announced the Petal subsea cable will link the United States and France.
Petal will begin service in 2029 and span roughly 7,000 km (4,300 miles).
The cable provides 1 petabit per second capacity, twice today’s best transatlantic cables.
NEC will design and construct the 24-pair system using two-core multi-core fiber.
Orange will handle the French landing and connect the cable to the European network.

1 / 2