Google has announced a $1billion investment to expand its Central Pacific Connect Initiative, which includes delivering two new subsea cables, Proa and Taihei.
The Cables
Partners on the two new cable systems include Japanese telecom operators KDDI and ARTERIA, the Private Equity firm Citadel Pacific, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).
Both cables will be delivered by NEC.
Proa, which is named after the traditional sailing canoes of the Mariana Islands, will become the first of two subsea cables to land in the CNMI as it crosses between Japan, Guam and the US.
In addition to Proa, the Taiwan-Philippines-U.S (TPU) cable, which is also owned by Google, will be extended to the CNMI.
Taihei, which means “peace” and “Pacific Ocean” in Japanese, will connect Japan to Hawaii. In addition, Hawaii will benefit from the extension of Google’s Tabua cable which was announced in October 2023.
