Google and Meta delay undersea cable projects over security concerns — Red Sea corridor carries a fifth of global internet traffic, but risk to crews and ships

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Google and Meta delay undersea cable projects over security concerns — Red Sea corridor carries a fifth of global internet traffic, but risk to crews and ships

Ongoing threats in a critical corridor push major infrastructure projects off schedule.

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(Image credit: Getty / Eoneren) Google and Meta have delayed segments of their subsea cable projects crossing the Red Sea, Bloomberg reported Monday, November 17, citing continuing security risks in a corridor where previous cable damage has already impacted global cloud traffic. The decision affects some of the world’s largest infrastructure builds, including Meta’s 2Africa system and Google’s Blue-Raman route, at a time when Europe-to-Asia capacity remains stretched and prone to latency spikes during outages.

The Red Sea bottleneck carries about a fifth of global internet traffic, but has been repeatedly flagged as increasingly fragile. In early September, two major cables — IMEWE and SEA-ME-WE 4 — were severed near Jeddah. Microsoft confirmed higher latency between Europe and South Asia after the event, and routing data from Kentik showed traffic diverted around Africa . That same detour could reappear during future disruptions if new capacity is delayed or never completed.

TeleGeography’s latest status maps show that Meta’s 2Africa cable , a nearly complete 45,000-kilometer system, remains in progress in the Red Sea. Google’s Blue-Raman project, designed to bypass Egypt’s congested corridor by linking Europe and India through Israel and Jordan, must still connect via subsea legs running close to conflict-adjacent areas. According to Bloomberg , both firms have pulled back Red Sea work for now, citing risks to ships and crews.

Telecom group to build new $116m undersea cable in the Black Sea, bypassing Russia — project set to connect Bulgaria, Georgia, Turkey, and Ukraine

Taiwan increases defensive patrols around 24 undersea cables

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  1. Google and Meta delay undersea cable projects over security concerns — Red Sea corridor carries a fifth of global internet traffic, but risk to crews and ships
  2. Google and Meta delay undersea cable projects over security concerns — Red Sea corridor carries a fifth of global internet traffic, but risk to crews and ships
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  4. Google and Meta delay undersea cable projects over security concerns — Red Sea corridor carries a fifth of global internet traffic, but risk to crews and ships

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