Vodafone Cook Islands and Avaroa Cable have announced that they are working together to prepare for the Manatua Cable going live later this year.
Avaroa Cable separately confirmed that the Manatua One Polynesia cable construction was on track and within budget. Most of the cable is nearing the end of the commissioning and testing phase with long term stability testing, one of the final checks, already underway.
Vodafone confirmed that they have now connected to both of ACL’s cable landing stations in Rarotonga and Aitutaki, with optical fibre linking the cable stations to Vodafone’s own network facilities ahead of the cable going live. Engineers from Vodafone and ACL are working together to test the network interconnections and cable interfaces.
Vodafone Cook Islands Chief Executive Officer Phill Henderson said: “The Manatua Cable is an important development for the future connectivity of the Cook Islands. Despite the COVID-19 distractions and challenges, its great to see the Avaroa and Vodafone teams working together to make this happen.”
Dr Ranulf Scarbrough, ACL CEO and Vice Chair of the Manatua Cable Consortium said: “Avaroa Cable has been very fortunate to have laid the Manatua Cable before COVID-19 forced most of the world into isolation. It’s been a long journey but we are nearly there with this important upgrade to the connectivity of the Cook Islands.”
