Tonga plans for link to fast new trans-Pacific submarine cable [1]
Wednesday, October 26, 2016 - 21:13
Tonga, Fiji and New Caledonia will have the option of accessing faster international broadband connectivity as part of a 14,000km submarine cable project run by the Hawaiki company between the United States, Hawaii, Australia, and New Zealand scheduled to be completed in mid-2018.
Three branching units will be added for these Pacific Island countries for future connections. A fourth branching unit will link to American Samoa who has already signed a contract to connect to the Hawaiki transpacific cable system when completed.
Tonga Cable CEO, Robert Bolouri said today that at the moment, Tonga is connected to only one cable from Fiji and if the connection were disrupted for any reason, the whole communication system in Tonga would go down.
"We needed a backup plan and this new cable has come along.…We are considering it as an option that we have committed to the branching unit to be able to have the right to connect in the next 25 years," he said.
He added that Tonga could not miss this opportunity for future connections and that it would be costly if they didn't commit to the branching unit while the project was still in its early stages. Costs to run a cable to the branching unit will need to be considered.
Manufacturing is underway for the cable system, which will allow direct access to the US market and will contribute to developing the economies of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
The system will be able to deliver more than 30 Tbps (terrabytes per second) of capacity making it the fastest link between the Pacific region (specifically Australia) and the US. Terrabytes per second is the data transmission rate equivalent to 1,000 gigabytes per second.
To date, more than 1,000 km of lightweight cable has been manufactured by TE SubCom, an industry pioneer in undersea communications technology, at its US facility in Newington.
Other works underway include landing surveys, marine route surveys, and a submarine cable landing license from the US.
Hawaiki CEO, Remi Galasso said tremendous progress has been made with Hawaiki in the last several months.
“We remain on time and on budget, and trust that in conjunction with TE SubCom, Hawaiki will be fully lit by mid-2018, bringing competition and diversity to the market, and vital connectivity to the region.”
The cable will bring a new era of international connectivity benefitting businesses and consumers across the Pacific region.