Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has selected Mumbai and Visakhapatnam as the landing sites for its multibillion-dollar subsea cable project, Waterworth. The company has appointed Sify Technologies as its landing partner in India under a USD 5 million (Rs 420 million) contract.

Google has also partnered with Sify for the Indian landing of its USD 400 million (Rs 33.6 billion) Blue-Raman subsea cable, underscoring the surge in global investment into India’s digital infrastructure and its growing strategic significance in international data connectivity networks.

Waterworth, which is expected to be the world’s longest subsea cable system, will connect the United States, India, Brazil, and South Africa. The cable is scheduled to land in 2030, and according to Sunil Tagare, founder of OpenCables Inc., the project could represent a USD 10 billion (Rs 840 billion) investment over the next five to ten years.

Sify’s role as a landing partner for both Meta and Google reflects the rising demand for efficient, low-cost landing infrastructure in India. Domestic telecom operators such as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are also ramping up investments in subsea cable networks to meet the surging data consumption driven by cloud adoption, streaming, and AI-based services.

According to industry estimates, the global submarine communication cable market is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.2 per cent, reaching USD 40.58 billion (Rs 3.4 trillion) by 2028, up from USD 27.57 billion (Rs 2.3 trillion) in 2023. The Indian market alone is expected to touch USD 78.6 million (Rs 6.6 billion) by 2030.

The influx of large-scale investments from Meta and Google is expected to reshape competition in India’s data infrastructure space, challenging domestic players such as Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Tata Communications. Meanwhile, neutral players like Sify Technologies and Lightstorm are emerging as attractive alternatives, offering cost-efficient landing solutions.

Furthermore, the carrier-class switch market, vital for ensuring seamless connectivity, low latency, and high network reliability, is forecast to reach USD 12.3 billion (Rs 1.03 trillion) by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 5.2 per cent between 2025 and 2031.

In summary, the Waterworth and Blue-Raman projects represent a pivotal moment in India’s digital infrastructure evolution, reinforcing the nation’s position as a critical global data hub for the coming decade.