Voyager joins Hawaiki

Hawaiki has recruited another New Zealand ISP, Voyager,  as its trans-Pacific fibre project gathers momentum.

Seeby Woodhouse’s Voyager has signed a letter of intent to purchase bandwidth on both the trans-Tasman and trans-Pacific legs of the 14,000 km Hawaiki cable.

Hawaiki aims to link New Zealand and Australia to Hawaii with a 100 Gbps fibre cable by the end of 2015. From there the network will use existing connections to the West Coast of mainland USA.

Woodhouse says “A carrier-neutral cable, like Hawaiki, is a step closer to lower wholesale data rates and faster and cheaper internet for consumers.”

Hawaiki Cable CEO Rémi Galasso says: “Seeby is a savvy operator and understands the benefits a new cable system will deliver to New Zealand. Voyager is a perfect partner for Hawaiki and we appreciate their support.”

Voyager joins Orcon and Australia’s TPG Telecom as the first commercial customers to commit to the Hawaiki project.

Announcing deals of this nature is an important step in the submarine cable process. It means Hawaiki can show potential investors it has the ability to win business.

Hawaiki says its cable will use 100 Gbps wavelength technology. The abandoned Pacific Fibre project planned 40 Gbps wavelengths while Southern Cross says it now operates 100 Gbps.