Meta plans to connect the US to France with the first transoceanic subsea cable to reach petabit capacity.

Built with NEC and Sumitomo Electric Industries, Petal is expected to enter service in 2029. In France, landing will be managed by telco Orange.

Petal features two-core fiber technology in a 24-fiber-pair system, equivalent to 48 fiber pairs. The 7,000km (4,350 mile) cable uses single-core fiber amplification with a Fan-In/Fan-Out (FIFO) interface to transition two-core fiber into two single-core fibers within each repeater and then back to two-core fiber following amplification.

“Achieving petabit-per-second capacity across a transoceanic submarine system represents a major technological milestone in the history of global telecommunications," said Eduardo Mateo, chief strategy officer, Submarine Network Division, NEC Corporation.

"This achievement reflects NEC’s sustained investment in research and development, combined with decades of experience delivering some of the world’s most advanced, reliable, and secure submarine networks that interconnect the globe."

Meta has invested in more than 20 subsea cable projects, including the world's longest subsea cable, Project Waterworth.