ACL is a state-owned enterprise of the Cooks Islands government and is funded by the New Zealand Aid Programme and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). ACL is also a member of the Manatua - One Polynesia subsea cable consortium, which connects French Polynesia, Rarotonga and Aitutaki in the Cook Islands, Niue and Samoa.
“Submarine cable assets are increasingly seen as critical to bridging the digital divide in the Pacific Islands and provide further development opportunities to businesses and communities in remote areas,” said Remi Galasso CEO of Hawaiki.
“We look forward to collaborating with Avaroa Cable to bring this vision to life and building further on their great work transforming communications throughout the Cook Islands via the deployment of future-proof and open-access subsea connectivity.”
Under the terms of the multi-million-dollar deal, Hawaiki will provide ACL with international capacity from the Manatua cable termination point in Apia, Samoa to Sydney, Australia. The turn-key solution is comprised of multiple subsea links, including the Samoa to American Samoa cable and the American Samoa branch to Hawaiki cable.
“ACL is very excited to have successfully achieved this key milestone and to now be able to offer this additional capacity to our wholesale customers," added Mike Schwarz, CEO of Avaroa Cable.
"We see this investment as an important enabler to improve resilience and deliver more connectivity to meet the increasing demand by consumers in the Cook Islands. We believe this new partnership is going to greatly benefit businesses and the local community.”
Once the project is complete, the solution will further secure trans-Pacific connectivity, provide much-needed diversity in support of ACL’s wholesale business and deliver high-speed broadband to local operators in the Cook Islands. It also bolsters the Cook Islands’ digital economy, specifically new e-services such as health and education.
