Hawaiki submarine-cable on track for mid-2018 launch

Hawaiki says it has completed the route survey for its 14,000km submarine cable connecting New Zealand and Australia to the US mainland via Pacific island nations and Hawaii. The survey was done in conjunction with Hawaiki partner TE SubCom.

Completing the marine survey puts Hawaiki on track to begin operating from the middle of 2018.

The company says cable manufacturing is now well underway with more than 4,500 km of fibre ready to roll. It also has 25 completed repeaters and work has started on the branching units which will connect the network to American Samoa, New Caledonia, Fiji and Tonga.

Hawaiki submarine cable schedule for mid-2018 completion

TE SubCom vice-president Debra Brask confirmed the project schedule. She says: “Our partnership with Hawaiki’s operations team is very productive and system manufacturing is well on track. In addition, permits are secured in Australia and are well underway in other locations. We continue to be on schedule for a mid-2018 completion.”

When complete Hawaiki will give New Zealand a fourth international cable connection. The Southern Cross Cable Network has a figure of eight design and has two links, one to the east and one on the West Coast of New Zealand's North Island.

The Tasman Global Access cable makes three connections. When open, it will connect New Zealand to Australia. It was due to go live about now but has bene delayed due to a damaged sea plough.

Meanwhile, Southern Cross is talking up its Next cable which it describes as “a high capacity express route, providing data centre connectivity between Sydney, Auckland and Los Angeles”. It is due to complete in 2019 and will add a meshed network design so customers can spread their traffic across what will be all three Southern Cross cable routes.