Advancing Delivery of the East Micronesia Cable Project

Representatives from the United States of America, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Japan, Kiribati, Nauru, and Australia met on March 8 to push forward the delivery of the East Micronesia Cable project.

This project, supported by the United States, Australia, and Japan will build an undersea cable to connect the state of Kosrae in FSM, Tarawa in Kiribati, and Nauru to the existing HANTRU-1 cable, located in Pohnpei, FSM. The East Micronesia Cable will provide faster, higher quality and more reliable and secure communications, connecting more than 100,000 people across these three Pacific countries.

Senior representatives from the six countries met face-to-face for the first time at the biannual Project Executive Board meeting in Canberra on March 8, 2023. During the meeting, they reaffirmed their commitment to delivering this transformational project and discussed important steps to finalize the marine cable construction contract. Once signed, this contract will signify the beginning of implementation.

The East Micronesia Cable project demonstrates the United States, Australia, and Japan’s commitment to support FSM, Kiribati, and Nauru’s Sustainable Development Goals through effective partnerships. This ambitious project will advance economic resilience, drive development opportunities, and improve living standards through improved telecommunications connectivity, bringing the Micronesian region closer together, as well as closer to the rest of the world.

Officials will conclude their visit with a tour of a Cable Landing Station in Sydney, where they will view the operational infrastructure and technology that will be implemented in their respective countries under the project. The six-country collaboration highlights the commitment to maximizing the region’s stability, security and prosperity, and the countries will continue to work together on telecommunications infrastructure projects that support long term social and economic growth.