Australia, US and Japan strike deal to build massive underwater internet system to aid the Pacific

Australia has unveiled a massive joint plan with other superpowers to aid a region in a move critics say will reduce the influence of China.

A massive plan to build an underwater internet cable system to boost internet speeds in the Pacific has been unveiled, with Australia joining the US and Japan in a bid to aid the region following severe economic impacts brought about by the pandemic

“The proposed undersea cable will provide faster, higher-quality and more-reliable and secure communications to approximately 100,000 people across three countries,” a joint statement from the three governments said.

“This will support increased economic growth, drive development opportunities and help to improve living standards as the region recovers from the severe impacts of Covid-19.”

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne declared the development was “more than an infrastructure investment” after securing the deal with counterparts from the US and Japan.

“It represents an enduring partnership to deliver practical and meaningful solutions at a time of unprecedented economic and strategic challenges in our region,” the ministers said.

“This project builds on the strong foundations of trilateral collaboration between Australia, Japan and the United States in the Indo-Pacific.”

The plan is also being viewed as a direct response to Chinese influence in the region. According to the director of the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Island Program, Jonathan Pryke, Australia stepped in and offered the Pacific nations a “better deal” as concerns grew over a deal the Solomon Islands government signed with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei in 2016.

In response to the Huawei deal, Australia fronted most of the payment for most of the Coral Sea Cable, which links Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea and Honiara in the Solomon Islands to Sydney’s hub.

Critics have remained sceptical of China’s intentions, speculating that Chinese-laid cable could compromise security in the region and even potentially be used for spying. Chinese officials have denied this claim.

“That was seen as a red line that Australia would not cross and so we jumped in with a better deal, providing the cable as a grant that would be implemented with a procurement partner of Australia‘s choosing — that wouldn’t be Chinese,” Mr Pryke said via the ABC.

In response to the Huawei deal, Australia fronted most of the payment for most of the Coral Sea Cable, which links Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea and Honiara in the Solomon Islands to Sydney’s hub.

According to the ABC, the Huawei Marine contract “would have led to a cable between Honiara and Sydney being laid, which would have meant Chinese hardware had been connected to the backbone of Australia‘s domestic internet infrastructure”. That deal has reportedly cost Australia $137 million.

The Australian National University’s Dr Amanda Watson has helped map cable projects across the Asia-Pacific region in an attempt to increase bandwidth to remote island nations. However, it’s not 100 per cent guaranteed the new move will reduce prices for the three target countries.

“It‘s not guaranteed that it would reduce internet prices or improve speed because there would be other factors at play, such as competition in the market, other costs of operating in those markets, and so on,” Dr Watson told the ABC.

Early estimations predict it will take roughly 18 months before the newly installed cable was carrying data between the Pacific countries. Source: TeleGeography

“We can‘t say for sure what will happen with regard to the prices that consumers will pay in those places, or even the speeds that they would experience.

“Although I would say that the geopolitical situation would have likely weighed into the minds of decision makers, in Australia, the United States and Japan when they were coming up with this deal to have a trilateral partnership to fund this themselves.”

Early estimations predict it will take roughly 18 months before the newly installed cable is carrying data between the Pacific countries.

“There would be some additional work required by at least one telecommunications company to connect to it,” Dr Watson said.