Computerworld

Hawaiki Cable notches another customer

Auckland-based trans-Tasman WAN provider Solarix Networks has agreed to buy capacity on Hawaiki's cable.

Hawaiki Cable, the New Zealand registered company planning to build a 14,000 km cable system between New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii and the US west coast, has signed up another customer.

Auckland-based trans-Tasman WAN provider Solarix Networks Limited has agreed to buy capacity on the New Zealand, Australia and US segments of Hawaiki’s cable.

Solarix director Flemming H. Rasmussen said the ten-year, multi-million dollar deal with Hawaiki would improve Solarix’s trans-Tasman service resiliency and introduce price competition.

“We treat Australia and New Zealand as a single market. Currently we use three carriers for our trans-Tasman workflow – and all three carriers touch the Southern Cross Cable. Our partnership with Hawaiki will strengthen our market position,” said Rasmussen.

Rémi Galasso, CEO of Hawaiki Cable Limited, said, “We have received fantastic support for this project since the moment it was announced last year. The deal with Solarix Networks takes us another step closer to cable deployment, and a future-proof cable system that links New Zealand to the rest of the world.”

Last year in September, Hawaiki signed a deal with US-based cable developer TE SubCom, who will design and lay the planned cable.

Hawaiki has secured capacity deals with telecommunications service providers on both sides of the Tasman, including ASX-listed companies TPG Telecom Limited and iiNet, and local New Zealand ISPs.