Submarine cable

MOU paves the way for second submarine cable in Vanuatu

Interchange Limited (ICL) General Manager (GM), Willie Karie, confirmed that an MOU signing will take place between Prime Minister Bob Loughman, New Caledonia President Louis Mapou, ICL and the Office des Postes et Télécommunications de Nouvelle-Calédonie (OPT-NC).

Vanuatu Daily Post reports Karie said Vanuatu only has one submarine cable connected from Fiji.

This new initiative will be a backup to address Internet downfalls in the future.

Karie added that each government has given the green light and it is now a matter of putting pen to paper.

Vanuatu wants Australia’s financial help for a highspeed internet cable too

The telecommunications company, Vocus Group, will oversee the roll-out of the 4000 kilometre undersea cable, linking Solomon Islands and PNG with the Australian mainland.

The money will come from the Australian aid budget, with the PNG and Solomon Islands governments required to contribute some of the funding.

By footing the bill, Australia effectively stopped the Chinese company, Huawei, from building the link, as it had originally signed a contract to do so with the Solomon Islands government.

Polynesian submarine cable as early as 2018

Talks on the development were held in New Zealand recently, and engaged the leaders of the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Niue and Tokelau.

The Cook Islands finance minister, Mark Brown, who was at the meeting, said they heard from two vendors for the cable - Auckland-based Hawaiki, and Bluesky.