Samoan Celebrations: Tui-Samoa Cable

By Emmanuel Delanoue and Molilaauifogaa Seanoa-Laumua
May 21, 2018

Samoa Submarine Cable Company Limited (SSCC) has a lot to celebrate! The Tui-Samoa submarine cable rolled out by Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), part of Nokia, interconnecting Samoa, Fiji and Wallis & Futuna Islands with a submarine optical fibre system which spans more than 1,470km is now live, carrying traffic and contributing to Samoa’s economic and social development and encouraging ICT innovation in education, commerce, agriculture, finance, health, tourism and E-government.

SSCC is a private company incorporated in Apia, Samoa which built and operates the Tui-Samoa submarine cable between Apia Samoa and Suva Fiji with spurs to Savaii and Wallis & Futuna. SSCC also provides cable landing party arrangements for other regional and trans-pacific international cable systems. SSCC’s mandate is to operate open access and non-discriminatory cable connectivity solutions in order to deliver fast, reliable and affordable internet services, which will in turn promote ICT innovation and development as an enabler of economic growth and social prosperity for the people of Samoa and the Pacific region.

“Fast, reliable and affordable internet services are no longer seen as a luxury reserved for a few, but a basic right for the Samoan people who now have access to information, innovative services and applications improving their lives. The accessibility of high quality connectivity via state-of-the-art fibre optic cable technology will stimulate Samoa’s ICT growth and drive our economy. With the support of ASN’s submarine cable technology, Tui-Samoa Cable has reduced the current dependence on satellite and will further accelerate the development of innovative services and applications. SSCC is committed to promoting regional cooperation by offering partnerships with Wallis & Futuna and Vanua Levu in Fiji with the objective of sharing the substantial benefits of Tui-Samoa Cable. One key component of that vision is to maintain carrier neutrality, enabling SSCC to provide our partners dramatically increased bandwidth at high quality and the lowest cost.” says Pepe Fia’ailetoa Christian Fruean, Founding Chairperson of SSCC and current Manatua Consortium Coordinator Project Steering Group.

Operations were carried out by the Ile de Ré cable ship, a 143 meter long cable ship capable of loading up to 6,000 km of cable and provided with state-of the art equipment for cable laying and maintenance.

To continue reading the rest of this article, please read it in Issue 100 of the SubTel Forum magazine here on page 18.