The MCLS will form part of the Coral Sea Cable System (CSCS) linking the Soloman Islands, Papua New Guinea and Australia, due to complete Q3 2019. The 4,700km cable was announced in July 2018 and is being developed by Vocus Group and Alcatel Submarine Networks.
“Following our recent contract win to design and build four modular cable landing stations for the Solomon Islands Submarine Cable Company’s new system, we are thrilled that the industry continues to recognise the advantages of our modular design-build process, which significantly accelerates project schedules while providing cost certainty from concept through completion,” said Amy Marks, CEO, XSite Modular.
The CSCS project also includes a 730km subsea cable system connecting Honiara to Auki (Malaita Island), Noro (New Georgia Island) and Taro Island. In addition, the four fibre-pair system will deliver a minimum of 20Tbps of capacity to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands respectively, bringing the total capacity to 40Tbps.
“The Coral Sea Cable System, which will connect to that undersea cable as well as to the Solomon Islands Domestic Network, is an equally ambitious project,” added Marks. “So, we are happy that XSite has been selected to build yet another modular cable landing station that is specifically designed to withstand any adverse environmental or man-made event. As members of the Pacific Islands Telecommunications Association (PITA), we are committed to this region and its residence.”
The new MCLS will give the CSCS network critical service including cooling, ventilation, fire detection and suppression, AC backup power, cable management, access control, video surveillance and a building management system as well as office space.
Fabrication of the MCLS will start this month before it is shipped to Brisbane, Australia or Singapore, and then onto Papua New Guinea.
