Kosrae-Nauru-Kiribati subsea cable set to start operating by November
- Admin
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
The long-stalled undersea cable that will interlink Micronesian islands is expected to be up and running by November, following the fiber optic cable landing in Kosrae, which completed the three-segment infrastructure.
Jointly funded by the U.S., Australia and Japan, the East Micronesia Cable will “transform the Federated States of Micronesia’s digital future,” the U.S. Embassy in Pohnpei said after the undersea cable landed in Kosrae on Aug. 18.
FSM officials marked the completion of cable installation in Kosrae with a Golden Buoy ceremony at the shore site in Tofol on Aug. 18, succeeding the Aug. 16 and July 23 landings in Nauru and Kiribati, respectively.
The $95 million EMC project spans about 2,250 km, running from Tarawa in Kiribati to Nauru and continuing to Kosrae in the FSM. It will connect to the existing Hannon-Armstrong, also known as Hantru-1 cable, which links Pohnpei to Guam.
In his keynote address, FSM Vice President Aren Palik welcomed the new cable system’s promise to deliver “faster, more reliable and affordable internet connectivity to the people of FSM, Kiribati and Nauru.”
“Technology is the future,” Palik said, noting that "failure to embrace it could leave FSM behind in the rapidly evolving digital age."
Japan's NEC Corp. is undertaking the EMC project, which was first proposed in 2017 and previously led by the World Bank along with the Asian Development Bank.
Jointly managed by the FSM, Kiribati and Nauru, the project was mothballed in 2021 when the Micronesian governments reconsidered the awarding of a contract to lay a sensitive undersea communications cable to HMN Technologies, a Chinese company.
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The backpedal was prompted by the U.S. government's warning that the Chinese company's involvement posed a security threat.
The existing Hantru-1 cable, primarily used by the U.S. government, connects the Reagan Test Site in the Kwajalein Atoll to Guam.
“Approximately 98 percent of the world’s data and voice traffic are carried by international submarine cables and as much as 95 percent of international data traffic in the Indo-Pacific is carried by undersea cable networks, making them vital to connectivity as well as a source of strategic vulnerability,” read a 2023 statement from the White House during the Biden administration.
The FSM, which is freely associated with the U.S. under the Compact of Free Association, has diplomatic relations with China. Kiribati ditched Taiwan and switched to China in 2019 and Nauru followed suit in January 2024.
The FSM, Nauru and Kiribati moved to resume the project in 2023 after the U.S., Australia and Japan offered to pitch in to fund the EMC.
“The United States is committed to secure, reliable and redundant telecommunications for the FSM,” Amy Gradin, the U.S. Embassy’s acting deputy chief of mission, said in a press release on Aug. 21.
Officials said the EMC "will benefit up to 100,000 people across the three Pacific nations, unlocking new opportunities in education, healthcare, business and governance.”
According to the EMC System's website, "the cable is expected to be ready for service in November 2025."
At the July 23 Golden Buoy ceremony in Tarawa, Kiribati’s information and communications minister said the new submarine cable “marks a turning point not only for the country’s digital infrastructure but its long-term wellbeing and progress.”
“For too long we have navigated the challenges of limited connectivity,” Alexander Teabo said. “This cable, however, signifies a new era. It will empower our businesses, connect our families and allow us to participate fully in the global conversation.”
The undersea cable system will replace the satellite services in the region.
For the first time, Teabo said, “Tarawa will be directly connected to the global digital network through a high-speed, secure, and resilient fiber-optic cable.”
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