Meta has announced Petal, a new transoceanic subsea cable connecting France and the United States. Spanning over 7,000 kilometers, the infrastructure is designed to deliver a bandwidth of 1 petabit per second. This capacity is double that of previous transatlantic systems.
The project utilizes 48 fiber pairs and a two-core fiber-based solution, marking the first large-scale deployment of multi-core fiber technology. To manage signal integrity over the 7,000-kilometer distance, the cable incorporates 96-amp repeaters with Fan-In/Fan-Out interfaces.
Meta is developing the cable in partnership with NEC and Sumitomo Electric Industries, with additional support from Orange for the French landing. The company expects the Petal system to enter service in 2029 to support growing communication demands in Europe.
Technical implementation required addressing crosstalk and attenuation issues inherent in two-core fiber designs. Solutions include the use of ultra-pure synthetic silica and precise control of refractive indexes within the fiber cores to maintain signal quality.
