Cables on Their Way

17 May

Vocus Communications Technical Lead, Mat Shields, undertook a quality assurance inspection for the cable loading (Credit: Vocus/ASN)

Excellent progress has been made on the Coral Sea Cable System and Solomon Islands Domestic Network. All segments of the CS² and SIDN cables were loaded onto the marine cable lay vessel, which departed port in Calais, France on 17 April 2019.

The marine vessel, Ile de Brehat, has made good headway along its route, having exited the Suez Canal and currently travelling through the south of the Red Sea. The vessel is expected to arrive at its destination, reaching PNG waters in June, ready to commence cable lay shortly thereafter. This is timely progress given today we are celebrating World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, which commemorates the importance of having internet access and the positive societal benefits it brings.

Upon completion of the cable installation by the end of this year, the CS² and SIDN will deliver faster, cheaper and more reliable communications infrastructure, affording both Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands significant economic and development benefits.

For Papua New Guinea, the Coral Sea Cable System will provide significant improvements to internet reliability and quality, facilitating closer economic integration in the Pacific.

For Solomon Islands, the benefits will extend beyond Honiara, linking to Auki (Malaita Province), Noro (Western Province), and Taro (Choiseul Province). The current internet penetration levels for each countries’ populations are 10% for Solomon Islands and 11% for Papua New Guinea.