With cable landings in Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and mainland US complete, final testing on the Hawaiki Cable System is to begin shortly, thanks to the fine folks at Hawaiki Submarine Cable LP and TE SubCom, a TE Connectivity firm, as the final splice of the Hawaiki Submarine Cable has been made with end-to-end connectivity in place, and the system is on schedule to be in service in June 2018.

The more than 15,000km cable connects Sydney – Australia, Mangawhai Heads – New Zealand, Tafuna – American Samoa, Kapolei – Hawaii, US, and Pacific City – Oregon, US, including stubbed branching units to facilitate future connections to New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga.

Remi Galasso, chief executive of Hawaiki, said: “Hawaiki will bring greater connectivity, diversity and security of supply to the market.

“Because of its scope and impact for communities across the Pacific region, the Hawaiki Cable System is a critical and multi-faceted endeavour. We are pleased with the progress to date and are looking forward to the project’s completion in June and the much- needed capacity it will bring to the region.”

Sanjay Chowbey, president, TE SubCom, said: “The TE SubCom and Hawaiki teams have worked well together to complete the Hawaiki Cable System.

“We look forward to this system being completed on time next month.”

Hawaiki Cable Facts

• Hawaiki will link Australia and New Zealand to the mainland US, as well as Hawaii and American Samoa, with additional potential future landings in New Caledonia, Fiji and Tonga.
• The Hawaiki Cable System comprises over 15,000 km of high-capacity cable, and the use of TE SubCom's optical add/drop multiplexing (OADM) nodes allows for additional landings in the Pacific region to be added as needed.
• Hawaiki tells us it will "provide 43 Tb of new capacity in the Pacific region, significantly dropping the cost of connectivity in this area".

As the first and only carrier-neutral cable system between Australia, New Zealand and the US, Hawaiki naturally states it is in "a unique position to meet new market requirements and deliver tailored capacity solution at the most competitive price".

iTWire's videos of the Hawaiki submarine cable launch event and a very cool tour of the Responder ship laying the cable all the way to American Samoa can be seen here. 

Here's a video provided by Hawiki, followed by a map of the Hawaiki Submarine Cable system.

Hawaiki Cable System Map: