The East Micronesia Cable System (EMCS) officially landed in Nauru on Saturday, making it the second of four landing points to be completed for the Pacific islands subsea cable system.
The 2,250km EMCS is currently being built by NEC to connect the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Kiribati and Nauru to the HANTRU1 Cable System that connects FSM and the Marshall Islands to Guam, which connects to several transpacific subsea cables connecting the to the US, Japan, Australia and Southeast Asia.
The EMCS cable – which officially landed in Nauru on Saturday – made landfall in Kiribati at the end of last month. Landings are also planned for Kosrae and Pohnpei in FSM. The landing stations are being constructed by Australian prefabricated modular data centre specialist company DXN.
The EMCS is owned by FSM Telecommunications Cable Corporation (FSMTCC), BwebwerikiNet Limited (BNL) of Kiribati, and Nauru Fibre Cable Corporation (NFCC), but is also being funded by the governments of Australia, Japan and the United States.
The cable system – which comes with a price tag of $135 million – is expected to be ready for service before the end of this year.
Speaking at the landing ceremony on Saturday, Digicel Nauru CEO Christopher Manaog said the EMCS – which will be Nauru's first subsea cable connection – is a “game-changer” for the island, which has relied solely on satellite for international connectivity.
“[Satellite is] a solution that served us well, but one that’s vulnerable to disruptions, especially during heavy rain,” Manaog said. “This submarine fibre cable is free from weather-related disruptions. In getting access to the cable, it elevates Digicel Nauru’s network backbone on par with the leading international networks. Briefly, a bigger, better link is coming to Nauru.”
Manaog added that Digicel Nauru will be outlining what the EMCS means for its customers during the next few months.
