Australia announces 3 new cables

Australia announced its offering three new undersea international cable connections to Papua New Guinea and the region.

High Commissioner Ewen McDonald says these are the Google Pacific cable in the North, the Coral Sea cable in Bougainville, and the Huwakai Niu cable in the South of the region, funded through the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific [AIFFFP].

When speaking at the annual PNG Update yesterday (Thursday, 22.08), Mr. McDonald says the cables are expected to increase internet coverage in PNG by 16 percent and could provide an additional 2.4 billion kina to PNG's gross domestic product.

Australia majority funded the 4700 kilometer Coral Sea cable project in 2019, which was expected to connect Port Moresby and Honiara with Sydney and the world at a total cost of PGK480 million with co-funding from the PNG and Solomon Islands governments.

The Coral sea cable project described a major boost for telecommunication services in the country, with a capacity of up to 20 terabits and 20,000 times the capacity of the previous system.

The landing of the cable was said to have been completed in late 2019 - following finalisation of PNG’s domestic connections.

A representative of the Australian High Commission told NBC News, the coral sea cable is still operational and provides a majority of PNG's internet- adding the three new proposed cable connections are different to and do not include the Coral Sea Cable.

The representative added that, Australia  provided the majority of funding for the coral sea cable, with PNG and Solomon Islands Governments jointly contributing up to one third of project costs.

NBC News is seeking comments from PNG Dataco on this project.