$65 million cable project to connect US to Australia by way of Fiji and French Polynesia
Google will build a pair of subsea cables connecting the US to Australia by way of Fiji and French Polynesia.
The project, announced Wednesday during a visit by Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese to the White House, will see Google work with local providers to bolster the resilience of subsea cables in a region prone to natural disasters and outages caused by shipping mishaps.
Cable breaks have been an ongoing problem, particularly in the Asia Pacific, so it’s not hard to see why the US and Australia might want to add extra links that improve resilience.
According to Google, the cables will be laid in collaboration with Fiji International Telecommunications, the Office of Posts and Telecommunications of French Polynesia, AP Telecom, and Vocus Group. Australia will provide the bulk of the funding, fronting $50 million for the project, while the US has committed to $5 million in cash with provisions for another $10 million in the future.
The subsea cables will take two routes, called Tabua and Honomoana. The latter is named for the Polynesian words for “link” and “ocean” and will pass through French Polynesia.
