Three years since commercial operations started on 1 February 2019, there has been significant increase in available international and domestic bandwidth capacity and usage. SISCC’s technology and business innovation together with good user experience has made it an attractive provider for domestic and international customers. Its growing traffic capacity cannot be fully offloaded to satellite should the Coral Sea (CS2) cable fail.
This morning’s briefing was for SISCC to discuss and update Prime Minister Hon. Manasseh Sogavare MP on efforts to secure a second international cable for Solomon Islands. The need for the redundant or backup international submarine cable has been demonstrated by the catastrophic experience of Tonga when it lost its single international cable at the beginning of 2022 and by the cable disruption in PNG following the earthquake on September 11th 2022.
CEO Keir told Prime Minister Sogavare, two opportunities have emerged for improved resiliency of the Solomon Islands Coral Sea (CS2) and Domestic Network (SIDN) submarine cable networks;
CEO Keir stated, for this option, a letter of request for the funding of the branch cable will likely be required from the Solomon Islands Government to Commonwealth of Australia.
For this project to proceed, a letter of support from the government to the PNG Government will likely be required, CEO Keir explained.
Prime Minister Sogavare appreciates the update, saying it is great news.
“A second international cable for Solomon Islands is important for submarine diversity and resilience. It will bring tremendous transformational and economic opportunities for the country,” the PM stressed.
He adds, proper prior risk analysis is also important.
-PM PRESS SEC