Government of Samoa provides update on Tui-Samoa cable project

The Project Steering Committee of the Tui-Samoa Cable Project, chaired by the Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tuisugaletauā Maposua Aliimalemanu Sofara Aveau, acknowledges with appreciation the recent joint media release by Amper SA and Bluesky Pacific Group with Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks, on building a new submarine cable (the' Moana Cable') to connect New Zealand with Hawaii by 2018.  Progress of the Moana Cable is acknowledged and supported as enhancing and complementary of services offered by the Government of Samoa's own Tui-Samoa Cable Project.

The Tui-Samoa Cable project is the core initiative of the Samoa Connectivity Project, the development of which will sustain Samoa's economic growth for the next 25 years through improved access to quality internet for all Samoans, especially those from low income households in rural communities.

The Project Steering Committee is pleased to report that the Tui-Samoa Cable project is making excellent progress with the confirmed route from Apia to Suva Fiji, with a spur or a branching unit to Savaii, linking to the Southern Cross Cable Network to Hawaii in the north and to Sydney in the south.

The French territory islands of Wallis and Futuna have also confirmed their interest to join the Tui-Samoa Cable.

Progress so far includes the public-private partnership between Government and local stakeholders that has seen the establishment of the Samoa Submarine Cable Company (SSCC), which is in place to procure, operate and manage the Tui-Samoa submarine cable. Of note is the fact that key telecommunications companies such as Bluesky, Digicel and CSL and institutional bodies such as SNPF, UTOS and SLAC have registered their intent to invest in SSCC.

In a first for Samoa, the Cable project also boasts the use of an electronic tenders bidding system.

Tender documents, for the construction of the Tui-Samoa Cable, were released on 26 November 2015 and will close on 2 February 2016. Evaluations of all bids are expected to be completed by mid-March and a contractor signed by May 2016.

The Tui-Samoa Cable project is scheduled for completion and launch in the third quarter of 2017.

The Minister of Communications and Information Technology is supported on the Project Steering Committee by representatives from the Ministry of Finance, the Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the Regulator, the Ministry of Communications, Digicel Samoa Limited, Bluesky Samoa, Computer Services Limited and Project Consultants.

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