EXA has launched the Meridian subsea cable project, a 24 fiber pair cable aiming for half petabit per second transmission. It will connect New Jersey and the UK, marking a significant move as no pure carrier projects have linked North America to Europe since 2015. EXA's choice of vendor Xtera could disrupt the market dominated by ASN, Subcom, and NEC, potentially lowering construction costs. However, the cable lacks physical diversity, which may pose concerns for hyperscaler clients focused on resilience.