Social media giant Meta plans to install its own private undersea fiber-optic internet cable that will stretch around the world, according to a new report.

Early next year, Meta – the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – is expected to announce plans to lay more than 25,000 miles of fiber optic cable under the sea, which could cost more than $10 billion. dollars, according to sources close to the company. told TechCrunch.

The cables would be solely owned and used by Meta, the world’s second-largest Internet usage driver, notably accounting for 22% of all mobile traffic, according to the outlet.

The cable route would potentially extend from the US east coast to India via South Africa, and then from India to the US west coast via Australia, according to the report.

Experts say the company has a long list of checkpoints to pass before implementing these big projects, including finding companies that will lay the cable.

“The supply of cable ships is really limited,” submarine cable industry analyst Ranulf Scarborough told TechCrunch.

“They are expensive right now and booked up several years in advance. Finding the resources available to do this quickly is a challenge,” he added.

If completed, the circuit will become the world’s first privately owned and operated fiber optic cable project.

Google, Amazon, Microsoft and other big tech companies all own parts of other global cable systems, but none directly own their private line, according to TechCrunch.

Experts say there are several factors motivating Meta to make such a large investment in infrastructure.

The company would be able to privately support its large Internet traffic on its own properties, reducing its dependence on telecommunications companies that have in other ways already been left in the technological bind with the dawn of the Internet era.

Experts also say Meta is motivated to protect itself from geopolitical conflicts, which have led to collateral and direct damage to undersea cables.

Last week, a cable was cut in European waters, with Sweden calling on China to cooperate in an investigation into a ship controlled by the communist nation, according to Associated Press.

The route planned by the company aims to “avoid areas of geopolitical tension,” a source close to the company told TechCrunch.

Last May, US national security officials Meta warned.Google and other companies that operate underwater internet cables could be at risk of tampering by Chinese-controlled vessels.

The FCC announced earlier this month that it will launch its first comprehensive review of licensing rules for submarine cables in decades, seeking to modernize the rules and ensure the security of vital infrastructure.

Meta’s project is still in the very early stages of development and will require years of planning, according to the report.