New subsea cable project aims to stabilize internet connections in South Pacific

When an underwater volcanic eruption severed a key internet conduit in 2022, the island nation of Tonga lost most of its connection to the outside world for more than a month.

Thanks to a new subsea cable project Google unveiled on Jan. 17, South Pacific islanders are less likely to be cut off from the global internet in the future.

The two planned fiber-optic lines, dubbed Bulikula and Halaihai by project organizers, will directly link the US territory of Guam with the island nations of Fiji and French Polynesia. According to Google, one of the main organizers, the cables will create a “ring” of core connectivity in the region, setting the stage for even more islands to eventually receive direct internet access.

“Google laying down these basic infrastructure trunks is going to give a lot of opportunity and access to those little islands that can jump onto this,” Guam Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said at an event announcing the project, which Tech Brew covered exclusively in Washington, DC.

The pair of cables join a growing network of underwater infrastructure that enables information to crisscross the globe. Without direct physical connections to the global internet, the exchange of data can slow down to a trickle, depending on weather and other conditions that can impede the only other alternative: satellite internet. (In Tonga’s case, the islands relied on Starlink satellite service while the undersea cable was being repaired.)

Brian Quigley, VP of global network infrastructure at Google Cloud, told Tech Brew that satellite is a good solution for basic connectivity, but the medium isn’t capable of handling the amount of internet traffic that typically needs to flow through the islands.

“Where you have satellite broadband…it is very helpful in connecting the digital divide, but it has a fundamental difference in performance than direct fiber-optic connectivity. So we think they’re both complementary and have their place,” he said in an interview.

According to Quigley, the two new cables should be completed by late 2026, with branching cables connecting other South Pacific islands over the following two years.

Guerrero told Tech Brew that the enhanced data capacity the cable provides will let islanders to take greater advantage of telemedicine, particularly when transmitting large medical files like radiological results. The network will also enable more stable video calls, allowing government leaders to communicate remotely instead of flying between islands, she said.

Another side effect? Encouraging the Guam tech sector to flourish.

The island’s status as an English-speaking US territory already makes it attractive to many businesses, Guerrero noted, and the University of Guam is expanding its computer science, engineering, and data-science curricula. Strengthening the region’s internet infrastructure only further positions Guam as a tech hub, she said.

“We would see higher-paying jobs and much more professional jobs going to our local people,” Guerrero said.