Samoa’s Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has joined leaders of Niue, French Polynesia and the Cook Islands and signed the Manatua Cable Consortium Communique.
The Manatua Cable will provide connections from Apia, Samoa to Toahotu, Tahiti, with branching units for landings to Niue; Aitutaki, Cook Island; Raratonga, Cook Island; and Vaitape, Bora Bora.
“Manatua will not only allow for faster and even more reliable connectivity in our islands, but brings together our people in a way that not many other projects can achieve. For Samoa, it is another building block in the government’s vision for the Samoa Connectivity Project” said Prime Minister Tuilaepa.
According to the Chairman of the Samoa Submarine Cable Company, Pauli Prince Suhren, “Manatua, set to become operational in 2020, will complement and enhance the connectivity already provided for Samoa by the newly commissioned Tui Samoa Cable and will provide the vital restoration capacity that is required to ensure a high level of assurance of service continuity and redundancy”
The signing ceremony was held in Auckland, New Zealand on Friday, 9 November.
The Manatua Consortium is composed of the Office des postes et télécommunications (OPT), the telecoms operator of French Polynesia, Avaroa Cables Limited (ACL), the cable operator of Cook Islands, Telecom Niue Limited (TNL), the telecoms operator of Niue and Samoa Submarine Cable Company (SSCC), the cable operator of the Independent State of Samoa.
Photo supplied