According toBloomberg NewsEarlier reports indicated that two long-awaited key subsea cable projects by Meta and Google are facing delays due to tensions in the Red Sea region. A Meta spokesperson attributed this to "a range of operational factors, regulatory issues, and geopolitical risks."
The report points out that the core of the problem lies in the southern Red Sea, where construction teams have been subjected to repeated missile attacks allegedly carried out by the Iranian-backed Houthi armed group, forcing the project to be delayed or rerouted.
Meta's "2Africa" project stalled
Meta's "2Africa" submarine cable system was announced in 2020. It is a massive project spanning 28000 miles (approximately 45000 kilometers) that will encircle the African continent, providing fiber optic networks to the region and connecting Europe with Asia.
However, due to ongoing conflict in the southern Red Sea region and the difficulty in obtaining specific permits from local governments, an entire section of the project remains uncompleted.
Google's "Blue-Raman" system has no timetable.
The Google-backed Blue-Raman intercontinental cable system is also facing difficulties in the region. Announced in 2021 and originally scheduled to open in 2024, the project's route connects France, Italy, India, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Oman.
Google has not yet provided an updated timeline for the delayed plan.
The high cost of delays forced the procurement of alternative capacity.
This delay not only affects network construction in emerging markets, but also directly impacts the operating costs of tech giants.
Alan Mauldin, research director at Telegeography, explained, "Not only are they unable to monetize their investment by transmitting data through these cables, but they are also forced to purchase capacity for alternative cables to meet their immediate (bandwidth) needs."
Part of the Atlantic and Global plans remain unaffected.
However, the report also added that the delays caused by the Red Sea crisis should not affect the other two submarine cable projects previously announced by Google and Meta.
This includes a cable that Google is building, which will run along the Atlantic Ocean to connect Togo with Europe; and another mega-cable system that Meta is building that will not cross the Red Sea and is planned to connect five continents.
While submarine cables are an excellent way to provide global fiber optic networks, they also highlight their vulnerability in construction and operation to human factors such as geopolitics, natural disasters, extreme weather, and even fishing activities.
