PCCW Global, the international operating division of Hong Kong’s HKT, will install and maintain a submarine cable connecting the Indian Ocean Islands of Rodrigues and Mauritius.

The 700km, 16Tbit/s Mauritius and Rodrigues Submarine Cable System (MARS) will be built with the help of Huawei Marine Networks, and is set to go live in 2019.

Islands of Mauritius
Islands of Mauritius – Hippolyte georget

Connecting Mauritius

“This project is very exciting for us because we are using our experience gained in designing, building, and maintaining submarine cables around the world to assist another service provider, in this case Mauritius Telecom, to commission their own fully-maintained cable investment,” Frederick Chui, senior vice president of global data sales at PCCW Global, said.

“This completely eliminates any risk in the development, maintenance and operation of what might otherwise have been a technically daunting project.”

Mike Constable, Huawei Marine CEO, added: “We are proud to collaborate with Mauritius Telecom and PCCW Global to revolutionize the broadband infrastructure of Rodrigues by providing a step-change in high speed Internet connectivity and facilitate the growth of digital communications.

“This is the 12th submarine cable system we have deployed in the African region, which reinforces the confidence in our technology and robust network solutions to further enable the transformation of the region’s digital economy.”

Rodrigues is a 108 square kilometer autonomous outer island of the Republic of Mauritius, with a population of around 40,000.