Plans are in place to connect Fiji to a second fiber optic cable. Communication Minister and Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum made this comment during the Datec Fiji Tech Summit held at InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa yesterday.
“The Southern Cross cable runs from Australia, lands in Fiji and then goes on to connect the west coast of North America.
“Recently, our neighbours Tonga were cut off from the rest of the world for a number of days due to a volcanic eruption,” he said.
He said as a country, they had decided it was important to be connected to a second fiber optic cable.
“We want to land a second fiber optic cable in Fiji on the Western side. There is a company which is carrying out feasibility studies, getting Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) done and finding a suitable site.”
He said a second fiber optic cable would build redundancies.
“It also feeds into the only sector that grew during the COVID-19 in Fiji. The BPO sector created 3000 new jobs during the pandemic and was declared an essential industry during the pandemic.”
