Meta, NEC, and Sumitomo Electric to Collaborate on “Petal,” the World’s First Petabit Transoceanic Submarine Cable System

Realizing ultrahigh-capacity transmission with multi-core fiber technology to meet communication demands in the AI era

Meta Platforms, Inc. (Meta), NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701), 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.

Petal will employ two-core fiber, with two optical transmission paths within a single fiber and an advanced single-housing repeater technology with reduced power consumption, enabling single-end feeding for maximum network resilience. With 48 pairs of spatial channels (core-pairs), Petal will achieve a transoceanic transmission capacity that doubles​​Anjana, the world’s first transoceanic​​24 fiber-pair system (​another collaboration between ​​Meta, NEC, and Sumitomo Electric​) and aims to be the world’s first petabit-class optical submarine cable system.

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.

Alex-Handrah Aimé, Vice President, Network Investments, Meta​​​, “Meta continues to invest in digital infrastructure, such as subsea cables, because they are foundational to delivering the high quality services our end users expect from us. Petal will set a new standard for what cable systems can deliver and is a testament to the deep collaboration and innovation between Meta, NEC, and Sumitomo Electric​​.”​​​

Eduardo Mateo, Chief Strategy Officer, Submarine Network Division, NEC Corporation, “Achieving petabit-per-second capacity across a transoceanic submarine system represents a major technological milestone in the history of global telecommunications. 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.”

Takehiko OKADA, General Manager, Optical Fiber & Cable Division, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd., “We are thrilled that Sumitomo Electric’s innovative submarine multi-core fiber, ‘2C Z-PLUS ULL Fiber’ will contribute to ‘Petal,’ an epoch-making Pb-class transatlantic cable system. As a pioneer with nearly four decades of experience in ultra-low loss submarine fiber manufacturing, we are committed to supporting the global network expansion essential to realizing a highly digital future.”

(*) Petabit (Pb): A unit of data volume. One petabit equals​​​​​​1,000​terabits​. Petal will enable ultra-large-volume data communications at the petabit level per second.

About NEC

The NEC Group leverages technology to create social value and promote a more sustainable world where everyone has the chance to reach their full potential. NEC Corporation was established in 1899. Today, the NEC Group’s approximately 110,000 employees utilize world-leading AI, security, and communications technologies to solve the most pressing needs of customers and society.

For more information, please visit https://www.nec.com, and follow us on LinkedIn and YouTube.