“We’re excited to share more as we continue our work with partners to reduce the digital divide across the Pacific,” said Brian Quigley, VP of global network infrastructure, Google Cloud.
Developed in partnership with Amalgamated Telecom Holdings (ATH), APTelecom, and Telstra, Bulikula will connect Guam with Fiji while Halaihai will link Guam and French Polynesia.
"APTelecom has a fundamental objective of increasing the reliability and resilience of digital links in the Pacific,” said Eric Handa, CEO of APTelecom.
“We are pleased to be collaborating with Google, Telstra and our island partners, driving together to accelerate and consolidate the delivery of connectivity solutions that will reduce the digital divide."
The central Pacific Connect initiative will create a ring between Guam, French Polynesia and Fiji that will include pre-positioned branching units that will enable other countries and territories to benefit from this infrastructure in the future.
“Amalgamated Telecom is excited to be investing in the Pacific Connect Initiative,” added Ivan Fong, CEO of Amalgamated Telecom Holdings.
“This core infrastructure investment in the ring and branching units will enable fundamental changes to internet access for our operators in Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa and Vanuatu. Additionally, it will allow us to offer trunk access to all of the Pacific Islands.”
The news follows the recent announcement by Google for the South Pacific Connect initiative, which will see the development of two trans-Pacific subsea cables called Honomoana and Tabua. Honomoana will connect the US and Australia to French Polynesia while Tabua will connect the US and Australia to Fiji.
For its part, Telstra will serve as one of the key telecom providers of central Pacific Connect and will own and operate a fibre pair on the core trunk on the Bulikula cable. After this, Telstra will partner with other carriers and governments to assist in building and operating branches to the Pacific islands.
“Telstra has decades of experience providing international connectivity in the Pacific, and with our network scale and local expertise, we are looking forward to partnering with Google and APTelecom to build reliable, high-performance connectivity for island countries,” said Roary Stasko, CEO Telstra International.
“We’re committed to improving infrastructure across the region which will support the future growth of local economies.”
