Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Google and partners plan new subsea cables in South Pacific

Google, in partnership with In collaboration with a number of partners, including Fiji International Telecommunications, Office of Posts and Telecommunications of French Polynesia, APTelecom and Vocus Group, announced plans for two new subsea cables connecting Fiji and French Polynesia to both the United States and Australia.

  • Honomoana, named after the Polynesian word for “link” (hono) and “ocean” (moana), will connect the United States and Australia to French Polynesia. 
  • Tabua, named after a sacred Fijian whale’s tooth, will connect the United States and Australia to Fiji.

In addition, the South Pacific Connect initiative will construct physically diverse cable landing stations in Fiji and French Polynesia and connect them with an interlink cable. This will serve to connect transpacific routes, improve reliability, add capacity, and reduce latency for users in the Pacific Islands and around the world.

The South Pacific Connect initiative will create a ring between Australia, Fiji and French Polynesia. This ring will include pre-positioned branching units that will allow other countries and territories of Oceania to join. 

https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/infrastructure/honomoana-and-tabua-subsea-cables-connect-south-pacific

  • In September, Google announced plans for Nuvem, a cable to connect Portugal, Bermuda, and the United States. Named after the Portuguese word for “cloud,” is expected to be ready for service in 2026.