Cheaper, more efficient broadband on the horizon

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Media Release

11 August 2009

Cheaper, more efficient broadband on the horizon

New Zealand Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and telecommunications companies could soon be able to offer cheaper and more efficient broadband to their customers.

That follows the announcement that a new submarine cable network, spanning more than 8 thousand kilometres, is planned linking New Zealand to Sydney and Hawaii.

The network, named South Pacific Islands Network (SPIN), will be deployed by Alcatel-Lucent and owned and operated by Noumea based SPIN SAS. The supplier contract between Alcatel – Lucent and SPIN SAS was signed in Nouméa on 30 July.

SPIN SAS Chief Executive Rémi Galasso says, as the first west-east system in the South Pacific, SPIN would connect remote territories in the region and end their technological isolation.

“What is needed to meet the increasing demand for broadband services in the region is higher and more cost effective capacity and connectivity.

“This cable network would enhance the region’s connectedness with the rest of the world, while at the same time lowering the cost of broadband access for consumers,” he says.

SPIN will comprise two segments.

Segment One would connect Nouméa in New Caledonia to Tahiti in French Polynesia. It would also incorporate Vanuatu, Wallis, Samoa and American Samoa. Additional branches are currently under discussion to connect Fiji, Tonga and Cook Islands.

Segment Two would link Nouméa to Auckland, and also incorporate Norfolk Island. Both segments will have an ultimate capacity of 640 Gigabit per second (Gbit/s).

The SPIN network will interconnect with cables between Noumea and Sydney, and Papeete and Hawaii, and will therefore offer New Zealand users capacity to Australia and the United States.

The planned network will compete with the Southern Cross Cable Network which at present has a near monopoly on international bandwidth to and from New Zealand.

Rémi Galasso says it is intended that commercial operation of the cable network will begin in September 2011.

“The schedule is based on three main milestones: marine survey, cable manufacture and system installation.

“Based on the results of the marine survey, the cable will be manufactured in the second half of next year and installation will begin in early 2011.

“We are confident that, when it is up and running, SPIN will offer similar performance and a viable alternative to the Southern Cross Cable Network,” says Mr Galasso.

ENDS

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