Solomon Islands ready to deploy subsea cable connecting with Australia
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Solomon Islands ready to deploy subsea cable connecting with Australia

The Solomon Islands has struck a memorandum of understanding with Huawei International which will see it begin deployment of the Solomon Submarine Cable system.

The government of the Oceania islands, located near Papua New Guinea and Australia, appointed Huawei as the main turnkey supplier for the cable, which will link Sydney to Honiara with a capacity of up to 2.5Tbps.

The 4,000km cable system is set to go into operation in 2019, and will also include a domestic network linking Noro in the Western Province and Auki in the Malaita Province with Honiara, the capital.

Work for the cable, which was announced in January and is expected to cost $530 million Solomon dollars ($US68 million), has been delayed, with announcements from the country claiming it was due to start in February.

Solomon Submarine Cable will operate as a wholesale supplier of Internet and data capacity to Australia for all licensed operators in Solomon Islands.

According to SBM Online, SISCC CEO Keir Preed said the company has already struck a landing agreement with Telstra, and is now in the process of seeking a permit allowing it to pass through Australian waters.

Solomon Islands prime minister Manassed Sogavare attended a signing ceremony between the two companies.

He said: “This new venture by the government is described as best as looking towards the future. I am more than certain that this will boost commercial activities by allowing access to global markets through stable and high speed connectivity.

“This is the future. This is our future.”

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