12/10/2026
NEC, Meta, and Sumitomo Electric to Collaborate on “Petal,” the World’s First Petabit Transoceanic Submarine Cable System 💡
NEC Corporation, Meta Platforms, Inc. (Meta), and Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. (Sumitomo Electric) have started collaboration to build “Petal,” the world’s first commercial petabit optical submarine cable system.
In recent years, the need for resilient, reliable connectivity has grown rapidly as communication traffic has continued to increase. The transatlantic route connecting North America and Europe in particular serves as a crucial communication infrastructure linking major digital hubs, and further increases in communication capacity and efficiency are urgently required.
Petal will become a transatlantic optical submarine system that will span approximately 7,000 km between the United States and France and is scheduled to commence operation in 2029.
Meta will fund and operate the cable system. As part of this, NEC will be responsible for the overall design and construction of the two-core system, and Sumitomo Electric will provide the two-core fiber for the submarine cable system construction.
Learn more:
https://www.nec.com/en/press/202609/global_20260922_01.html?cid=snsli2026092503