Tech giant Meta reportedly halted construction on the Arabian Gulf segment of its massive 2Africa subsea cable network, as the ongoing war freezes marine operations in the region.

What happened? Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), the French state-owned contractor laying the fiber, has issued force majeure notices to its clients stating it cannot currently fulfill its contracts, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing unnamed sources. ASN’s installation vessel, the Ile De Batz, is currently stranded near Dammam.

The pause directly affects consortium partners like STC’s Center3, which had planned to bring 2Africa’s Pearls segment online as early as this year.

Why it matters

We could be looking at paralysis of the entire next-generation digital infrastructure in the Gulf. Work has reportedly also stopped on the Sea-Me-We 6 cable and Ooredoo’s FIG project.

The impact could be heavier reliance on overland infrastructure. Internet traffic can be rerouted through terrestrial cables across Saudi Arabia and Oman, telecommunications research firm TeleGeography’s Alan Mauldin told the business information service. While this keeps the region connected, regional internet speeds could slow down as capacity is stretched, Mauldin said.

The physical vulnerability of digital infrastructure is now in stark focus. Routine maintenance is virtually impossible right now as repair ships will not operate in active military zones. This means any active cables damaged by the anchors of targeted ships — a scenario we saw play out in the Red Sea last year — will be offline for a long time.

What’s next?

Even when the shooting stops, the subsea cable rollout won’t resume immediately. Intercepted Iranian missiles have left a trail of unexploded ordnance in the Gulf. The seafloor will have to be surveyed before cable layers can safely drop a single line, Mauldin said.

The persistent geopolitical risk could push tech giants to look for ways to bypass the Middle East altogether. Meta’s long-term backup plan, Project Waterworth, aims to connect the US, India, South Africa, and Brazil, though it remains years away from completion.

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