RICS & SPIN initiatives announced at PacINET 2007

Dr Jimmie Rogers announces RICS and SPIN initiatives at PacINET 2007

Dr Jimmie Rogers, Director General, Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) announced in Honiara, Solomon Islands, two major initiatives for Internet connectivity for the Pacific Islands during PacINET 2007, the leading Information and Communication Technology (ICT) conference organised every year by the Pacific Islands Chapter of the Internet Society (PICISOC).

Dr Jimmie Rogers recalls; "In 2005 I traveled with Dr. Vinton Cerf to the 4th PacINET meeting held in Tarawa, Kiribati. I posed a question to Dr. Cerf at the Kiribati PacINET along the lines of 'is there any way that our oceans, the single largest resource we have in abundance in the Pacific can be usefully utilized through some form of technology that could enhance ICT connectivity? Dr. Cerf's response was 'whilst technological solutions can always be found, it is having the correct vision and strategic leadership that more often than not holds the key to sustainable solutions'. He emphasized 'a genuine partnership between Pacific Islands and sharing of their resources might offer them collectively the best option to secure affordable high-speed access to Internet connectivity."

Through the digital strategy, he announced that SPC and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) have now secured funding for a 'Pan-Pacific Satellite-based Rural Internet Connectivity System (RICS) aimed at complementing current commercial providers for Internet connectivity at rural and remote areas in all Pacific Islands.

This initiative will be launched at the Tonga FORUM Leaders meeting later this year and roll out implementation of 16 pilot sites is expected to be complete within 6 months following the launch.

In addition, he announced that SPC and PIFS have also been facilitating a sub-marine cable initiative since March this year that will link twelve (South) Pacific Island countries and territories to unlimited bandwidth opportunities. This cable network would link from the east, French Polynesia, Cook Islands, Niue, American Samoa, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and PNG in the west.

The proposed cable network will have three terminating points, one in Honolulu and two in Australia, one in Sydney from Noumea and one in cairns from Port Moresby. This cable network has two components, with the SPIN West (Noumea to PNG - Cairns having a capacity of up to 320 gigabits/s), and the SPIN East (Noumea to Tahiti - with a capacity of 2 fibres - 2 x 320 gigabits/s). 80 gigabits/s allows to download one complete DVD every second.

All 12 countries have expressed their interest in this new network and assuming they confirm their commitment by the end of 2007, it is likely that the new South Pacific Islands Network (SPIN) can be implemented in 2008.

Parts of the SPIN cable are already in implementation phase, PICISOC thinks that Pacific Islands should not miss this unique opportunity to have access to vast Internet bandwidth for the benefit of the local economies. Leaders have some tough decisions to take today. These decisions will have a serious impact for the Pacific Islands for the next 10 years.

Dr Jimmie Rogers concluded in his speech: "Finally I wish to thank Dr. Vinton Cerf, a friend of PICISOC, a friend of the Pacific who has been walking the journey with us and helping us find solutions to our ICT challenges. ".

ENDS

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