Cable manufacture on track for September completion and to be live by May 2020
Avaroa Cable Ltd confirms today that manufacture of the 3600km Manatua Cable is now well advanced having passed the halfway mark.
The advanced fibre optic cable, its six branches for landings across Polynesia, and the 32 ‘repeaters’ are being manufactured in a specialist facility in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA. A process that takes many months to complete.
Stringent quality processes are in place to ensure the highest quality of engineering, which will lead to error free operation over the cable’s 25 year life.
Cable manufacture is on target for completion and final testing in September 2019. The cable will then be loaded on the ship for delivery to the South Pacific.
Cable laying will start in Apia, Samoa later this year, following completion of the detailed marine survey work undertaken in June.
The announcement complements separate intense activity by ACL in the Cook Islands to prepare for the cable arriving. Work is well advanced for the construction of the two Cable Landing Stations, one each on Rarotonga and Aitutaki, with contracts now being in place for the Cable Landing Stations and the cable land routes.
Completion of the Trans Polynesian Information Superhighway is on target to be live in May 2020.
Dr Ranulf Scarbrough, ACL CEO and Vice Chair of the Manatua Cable Consortium said: “After many years of preparations, its fantastic to see the cable being manufactured at last, a clear sign that very soon Rarotonga and Aitutaki will be benefiting from world class, international fibre connections. This is a very busy period for ACL and the whole team are focused on ensuring the engineering preparations are undertaken to the highest standards”
Further information
Enquiries about this news release should be made to Rebecca Tavioni on +682-56621 or by email to rebecca.tavioni@cookislands.gov.ck
About Avaroa Cable Ltd
ACL is the state-owned enterprise established by the Government of the Cooks Islands to manage its involvement in the Manatua Cable project and operate the cable on behalf of the Cooks Islands. Funding has been provided by the Cook Islands Government, the New Zealand Government Aid Programme and the Asian Development Bank. ACL is overseen by an independent board chaired by local business woman Tatiana Burn.
About the Cook Islands
The Cooks Islands is an independent democracy comprising 15 islands in the south Pacific of c.15,000 people operating in free association with New Zealand.
About the Manatua – One Polynesia Cable
The Manatua cable will be 3500km long connecting Samoa, Niue, Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Tahiti and Bora. The cable will be capable of operating at up to 10 tera bits per second (= 10,000,000 megabits per second) using state-of-the-art fibre optic technology, enough speed to download 300 high definition movies every single second.
About the Manatua Cable Consortium
The ground-breaking Manatua cable consortium was formed following the signing of an International Treaty in November 2018 between the governments of the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and French Polynesia. The purpose of the consortium is to build and operate the Manatua cable. The consortium comprises Avaroa Cable Ltd (for the Cooks Islands), Niue Telecom, the Samoa Submarine Cable Company and Office de Poste et Telecommunications (for French Polynesia). It is the first consortium of its type anywhere in the Pacific.
About the New Zealand Aid Programme
The Cook Islands involvement in the Manatua Cable project has been part funded with NZ$15m of grant funding from the New Zealand Aid Programme. (www.mfat.govt.nz/en/aid-and-development)
About the Asian Development Bank
The Cooks Islands involvement in the Manatua Cable project has been part funded with US$15m of loan funding from the Asian Development Bank.