The company will build the network using 5,400km of subsea cables around the coast of Papua New Guinea (PNG), a mountainous island nation in the south Pacific. The contract includes data centres.
A government-owned wholesale telecoms company, PNG DataCo, will operate the network, which will connect 14 major coastal centres as well as islands. It will also run to Jayapura in Indonesia, providing international connectivity. PNG DataCo was set up in February 2016.
Paul Komboi, managing director of PNG DataCo, said: “This new system is very important to Papua New Guinea as it includes not only a new submarine cable network but also internet gateways and data centres. This will improve the whole ICT infrastructure in the country and greatly increase network coverage, capacity and the availability of internet and broadband services to end users.”
The design capacity of the system is 8Tbps, which will cater for increased bandwidth demand over the next 10-15 years. When completed, the network will cover 55% of the population and will provide more than 70% of PNG’s domestic bandwidth requirements. PNG today relies on satellite and microwave for voice and data connections.
Komboi added: “Our selection of the experienced team at Huawei Marine, following a tender process, will ensure a successful implementation and delivery of this system.”
Huawei Marine’s CEO Mike Constable said: “For island nations, submarine cable systems are key components required for the development of an affordable and effective ICT infrastructure.”
