Bluesky Pacific Group has selected Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks to build a new submarine cable system spanning more than 9,700 km across the Pacific.
The Moana Cable will link New Zealand and Hawaii. The system will have two main segments: the first segment, based on two fiber pairs, will connect New Zealand to Hawaii over 8,000 km, serving Samoa and American Samoa and significantly enhancing route diversity for New Zealand; the second segment, based on one fiber pair, will link the Cook Islands to the Samoa hub over 1,700 km.
The Moana Cable is also designed to accommodate the connection of additional Pacific island nations such as Niue, Tokelau and Tonga, which lie in close proximity to the New Zealand-to-Hawaii trunk, as well as French Polynesia on the East near the Cook Islands. It will be the first long-haul submarine cable in the Pacific islands region relying on the latest 200Gbpstechnology, with ultimate capacity between Hawaii and New Zealand of 20 Tbps. Project completion is slated for 2018.
Bluesky Pacific Group owns and operates the ASH Cable connecting American Samoa to Hawaii and SAS Cable connecting Samoa to American Samoa. Anchor customers of the Moana Cable include Bluesky Pacific Group companies and existing ASH Cable customers. Bluesky has also signed a memorandum of understanding with RAM Telecom International, Inc, for collaboration and interconnection with its SEA-US submarine cable linking Asia to Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States.
