Rémi Galasso (Hawaiki Cable) and Andreas Sohmen-Pao (BW Global)
Hawaiki Submarine Cable Limited Partnership is set to lay a new addition to its existing subsea data cable network, linking Southeast Asia, Australasia and North America.
The current Hawaiki submarine cable network, launched in 2018, covers 15,000 kilometres and connects Australia, New Zealand, American Samoa, Hawaii and the US west coast.
The new proposed cable system, dubbed Hawaiki Nui, will have a design capacity of 240 Tbps and provide end-to-end connectivity between three main hubs in the Pacific region: Singapore, Sydney and Los Angeles.
It is claimed the planned cable system will be the first and largest ‘spatial division multiplexing’ (SDM) cable linking the three regions.
Construction of the estimated 22,000-kilometre Hawaiki Nui system is due to start in 2022, with an expected cable ready for service (RFS) date in 2025.
With landings planned in Jakarta and Batam, Hawaiki Nui is expected to be the first subsea cable to deliver Indonesia with triple connectivity to Singapore, Australia and the US.
In Australia, the system will serve both international and domestic capacity requirements, linking Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Darwin, while providing them with direct access to Singapore and Los Angeles.
It is claimed that Hawaiki Nui will also be the first international cable to land in the South Island of New Zealand, linking Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill directly to Australia via a new subsea route.
In addition, two branches will be built to connect Oahu and Big Island in Hawaii.
Credit: Hawaiki Cable Hawaiki has tapped telecommunication services provider PT Mora Telematika Indonesia – aka Moratelindo – as its strategic partner for the Indonesian segment of the cable rollout.
“Indonesia has become a strategic market in Southeast Asia and we look forward to working closely with Moratelindo, which has demonstrated its unique ability to implement and operate subsea and terrestrial fibre networks in Indonesia over recent years,” said Rémi Galasso, founder and executive chairman of Hawaiki.
Under the partnership agreement, Moratelindo will act as the Indonesian landing party and acquire all corresponding permits and authorizations in Indonesia for the Hawaiki Nui project.
The Indonesian telco operator will also play a key role in the system design and deployment, from the definition of the optimal subsea route and landings in Indonesia to the provision of local terrestrial infrastructures for landing the subsea cable.
“We are pleased to cooperate with Hawaiki and participate in the development of the Hawaiki Nui cable project,” said Galumbang Menak, president director of Moratelindo. “This new submarine cable system will provide an alternative low latency route for international connectivity to and from Indonesia, and reduce the country’s dependence on existing connections going through Singapore.”
According to Galasso, the system, coupled with the existing Hawaiki cable, is expected to significantly expand the company’s subsea network and offer “unparalleled” connectivity and redundancy to customers operating in the Asia Pacific region.
“An all-in-one submarine cable infrastructure with multiple international and domestic routes embedded in the same system, Hawaiki Nui has been designed to deliver direct connectivity through new subsea paths and provide optimal diversity,” he said.
The announcement of the Southeast Asian expansion of the Hawaiki cable network comes just months after Hawaiki Submarine Cable Limited Partnership, headquartered in New Zealand, was bought by Singapore-based BW Digital, an affiliate of BW Group.
It was claimed in July that the then-current Hawaiki team would continue to manage the business.
But, three years after Hawaiki’s commercial launch, it was time to "write a new chapter" of the company’s history, Galasso said at the time.
