Republic of the Marshall Islands to Transform Digital Infrastructure Through Pacific Connect Initiative.

The article focuses on recent developments in submarine fiber optic cable infrastructure across the Pacific region. El Salvador's General Superintendence of Electricity and Telecommunications (SIGET) has contracted Liberty Networks to build the country's first 1,800-kilometer submarine cable, funded partly by an $85.4 million loan from the Development Bank of Latin America, with completion expected in 2028. The Republic of the Marshall Islands' National Telecommunications Authority (NTA) is advancing the "Iokwe" Cable System, connecting the islands to Google's Halaihai cable via the Pacific Connect initiative, supported by U.S. government funding, to enhance digital resilience and economic growth. Hawaiian Telcom and IT International Telecom Marine SRL are collaborating on the Kunoa North inter-island fiber optic cable system in Hawai'i, a project valued at $87 million and aimed at improving connectivity and network redundancy by 2028. Additionally, Tonga has established a new transpacific link through the Hawaiki Tonga subsea cable, connecting it directly to a major transpacific backbone and marking its second international subsea cable.