Vocus taps Nokia for Pacific cable rollout

Project to deliver 20Tbps to PNG and the Solomon Islands

Vocus has signed an agreement with Nokia’s Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) to roll out the Coral Sea Cable system that will connect Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

The government announced last month it had awarded Vocus a $136.6 million contract to build the new cable system. Canberra’s support for the project is widely considered an effort to block Huawei from rolling out the cables.

The 4000-kilometre Coral Sea Cable system will land at Port Moresby, Honiara and Sydney.

Following completion — expected in late 2019 — PNG and the Solomon Islands will have 20 terabit per second connections to Australia.

Vocus is also delivering a domestic fibre network across the Solomon Islands.

“Building this critical infrastructure on behalf of the Australian Government will bring fast, reliable and affordable connectivity to Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, together with the associated economic and social benefits,” said Vocus Group CEO Kevin Russell.

ASN is also rolling out the Australia Singapore Cable on behalf of Vocus and was responsible for delivering the North West Cable System (NWCS) which is also owned by the network operator.

“We are proud to support Vocus Group with the Coral Sea Cable project,” ASN president Philippe Piron said.

“This new contract validates our approach to provide systems with ultimate performance and reliability to our customers, enabling capacity and connectivity enhancements for end-users, as we continue to expand our presence in the Asia-Pacific region.”

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Tags NokiaNetworkingsubmarine cablesVocusPapua New GuineaVocus Groupsolomon islandsAlcatel Submarine Networks

More about AlcatelAustraliaHuaweiNokiaSolomonWest

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