HAWAIKI, ASH, and ASTCA Join to Form New Broadband Alliance in the Pacific

Hawaiki Submarine Cable, ASTCA and ASH announced an agreement significantly boosting capacity linking Pacific territories and nations.Hawaiki Press Release
May 28, 2020

  • New alliance to future-proof Pacific connectivity and boost capacity for American Samoa
  • Pacific business and communities secure valuable peace of mind
  • Agreement lays foundations for further collaboration between Hawaiki and regional carriers

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Hawaiki Submarine Cable LP, American Samoa Telecommunications Authority (ASTCA) and American Samoa Hawaii Cable LLC (ASH) today announced an agreement forming a powerful three-way alliance dedicated to significantly boosting capacity linking Pacific territories and nations to Hawaii and the US mainland.

The multi-million dollar deal announced today brings three operators together to take advantage of the Hawaiki branch to American Samoa, securing trans-Pacific connectivity into the future and providing critical diversity to help drive ASH’s wholesale business and deliver fast, reliable international broadband to local operators and ISPs in American Samoa, Samoa, French Polynesia and other nations and territories.

Completed in 2018, the Hawaiki Transpacific Cable is a 15,000km, 67Tbps, carrier-neutral subsea fiber network linking Australia, New Zealand, American Samoa, Hawaii and five points-of-presence on the US West Coast.

ASTCA, a state-owned telecom in American Samoa, owns the 400km subsea branch that connects the Hawaiki trunk to the United States territory.

ASH, jointly owned by Fiji’s ATH Group and the American Samoa Government, owns the Samoa to American Samoa (SAS) cable and allows Hawaiki bandwidth and circuits to reach beyond American Samoa to Samoa and all interconnected points, including French Polynesia, Cook Islands, and Niue (via the soon-to-be-RFS Manatua cable), as well as Fiji and Wallis and Futuna (via the Tui Cable, commissioned in 2018).

Hawaiki CEO Remi Galasso described the agreement as an important milestone for communications in the South Pacific, forming the basis for future collaborations between the company and the growing number of carriers servicing the region.

“Bridging the digital divide in the Pacific is something that has been part of Hawaiki’s DNA from the beginning,” he said, adding: “In these challenging times, communications infrastructure and reliable connectivity have an even more critical role to play in supporting the continuity and development of businesses and communities in regions that have traditionally been underserved.”

Galasso highlighted the importance of Hawaiki’s partnership with ASTCA in bringing the transpacific cable into operation and said he looked forward to working with ASH as part of the newly formed alliance.

Paul Michael Young, President of ASH, said: “Due to the small size of most Pacific Islands telecommunications markets and fragmented submarine cable infrastructures, partnerships like this one show how individual interests can be knitted together to create something that is truly bigger and stronger than the sum of its parts. This deal is the culmination of months of negotiations with each party sacrificing something for the greater good: the people of American Samoa. ASH is grateful for the kindness and cooperation of its alliance partners, Hawaiki and ASTCA, and looks forward to many similar future endeavors.”

Joseph Pereira, Chairman of the Board of ASTCA said: “We have always believed that Governor Lolo Moliga’s decision to invest in building a branch connecting American Samoa to the main Hawaiki trunk would benefit other countries and territories. ASTCA is very happy that other Pacific communities will benefit from our decision to connect American Samoa to the world through Hawaiki and ASH.”

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About Hawaiki Submarine Cable LP

Hawaiki Submarine Cable LP, headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand, owns and operates the Hawaiki submarine cable system (Hawaiki). Hawaiki is the first and only carrier-neutral submarine cable linking Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and Oregon, on the U.S. west coast. For more information, visit www.hawaikicable.co.nz or connect with Hawaiki on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About ASTCA

The American Samoa Telecommunications Authority (ASTCA) is a telecommunications service provider in American Samoa, owned by the American Samoa Government and licensed by the Federal Communications Commission. ASTCA uses a fiber-to-the premises G-PON network and a wireless 4g LTE+ network to deliver connectivity to customers on five islands. ASTCA is connected to the Hawaiki trans-Pacific subsea fiber optic cable network by a 400-kilometer subsea branch; the branch is owned by ASTCA. ASTCA also provides international data connectivity circuits to other Pacific islands through agreements with other service providers. For more information, contact the ASTCA CEO at ceo@astca.net.

About ASH Cable LLC

The American Samoa Hawaii Cable (ASH) is the international fiber optic cable between American Samoa and Samoa. The Samoa-American Samoa Cable (SAS Cable) will provide inter-island communication, as well as enabling users in Samoa to access the ASH cable capacity and connect to the global networks. ASH Cable is a public-private partnership between ATH Group and the American Samoa Government. For more information, contact ASH at ceo@ashcable.com.

 

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