The initiative is in collaboration with the Ministry of Education Cook Islands (MoE) and leverages existing Hawaiki (now owned by BW Digital) and Manatua submarine cables.
Ciena’s support includes the installation of Ciena 5160 Service Aggregation Switches in the Cook Islands and Sydney. It will also cover all costs for ongoing maintenance and support services for the duration of the project.
Some of Cook Islands schools were previously solely reliant upon satellite services for internet connectivity, significantly those in the Pa Enua (outer islands). Thus, they could not meet the service demands required for today’s learning needs.
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Connectivity was often slow or unreliable due to high usage, especially during school hours. This makes it difficult for students and teaching staff to access online resources and communication platforms that require high bandwidth capacity.
The switch to submarine cable-based broadband connectivity for Rarotonga and Aitutaki from satellite services will provide a more stable user experience across all education premises, supporting the Cook Islands’ educational institutions as they embrace digital learning.
“Having improved and strengthened connectivity for our schools will revolutionise the teaching and learning experience for each of our education sectors. We are seeing more and more of our teaching and assessment opportunities being digitised or delivered online and having a dedicated and sustainable platform for our schools including our tertiary and vocational providers will mean we can confidently continue to deliver a quality education system,” Ministry of Education Cook Islands head of ministry Danielle Tungane Cochrane.
“E-learning programs will enable students and teachers living in the Cook Islands most isolated communities to gain quick, easy access to education that would otherwise not be so economical,” said ACL CEO Mike Schwarz.
“Connecting the Pacific Islands via submarine cables is no easy task. This collaboration is an important step forward to help improve digital connectivity for the next generation of Cook Islanders and is testament to the tenacity and mutual goodwill of all the teams involved in this important project,” said Ciena regional managing director ANZ and the pacific Ivan Polizzi.
“Pacific Islands’ connectivity has been at the heart of Hawaiki cable since its inception. We are proud to participate in this initiative, which will further bridge the digital divide in the South Pacific and empower Cook Islands students to learn and grow in a mature digital environment,” BW Digital CEO Ludovic Hutier.
Hutier added submarine cables have become a fundamental enabler of socio-economic progress across the Pacific, citing the groundbreaking HoloCampus 3D telepresence learning platform launched four years ago in American Samoa.
“The Cook Islands’ project is a perfect example of what we can accomplish when technological leaders join forces to better serve our community.”
“With the increasing shift towards ed-tech and online learning, it has been a pleasure to work closely with the MOE, Avaroa Cable and Hawaiki Cable to bring this initiative of delivering improved internet capacity to the MOE and all the schools in the Cook Islands,” said Vodafone Cook Islands CEO Phillip Henderson.