Papua New Guinea’s state-owned wholesale operator PNG DataCo says that it has completed an upgrade of its internet gateway with a 100-Gbps link that enables it to migrate traffic onto the PIPE Pacific Cable 1 (PPC-1) subsea cable.
According to a statement released, DataCo’s 100-Gbps internet gateway link now runs out of Papua New Guinea to Australia via PPC-1 out of Madang, as well as PNG DataCo’s Coral Sea Cable System 2 (CS2) subsea cable from Port Moresby.
According to a statement on Facebook from DataCo CEO Paul Komboi, most internet traffic from the Highlands, Momase, and Niugini Islands regions will now primarily be routed onto the PPC-1 link, as it offers the most direct route to upstream internet providers.
Meanwhile, traffic from Port Moresby and the Southern Region will default to CS2, with PPC-1 serving as a secondary option.
Komboi also said the upgrade project took two months to complete, and was finished on schedule.
“We are closely monitoring our [internet gateway] and IP networks to ensure uninterrupted service following these enhancements,” Komboi said.
The 6,900-km PPC-1 – which is indirectly owned by Australia’s TPG Telecom – runs between Sydney and Guam, with Papua New Guinea connecting to the system via a spur landing in Madang. The cable, which has been operational since 2009, was upgraded to a capacity of 12 Tbps in 2021.
The CS2 cable – which is co-owned by DataCo and Solomon Island Submarine Cable Company – connects Sydney to Port Moresby, as well as four landing points in the Solomon Islands. Activated in 2020, the 4,700-km cable provides 20 Gbps of capacity to both Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.