The Marshall Islands is set to connect to Google’s Halaihai subsea cable.

The National Telecommunications Authority (NTA) of the Republic of the Marshall Islands this week announced the Pacific nation would be joining Google’s Pacific Connect subsea cable initiative.

This project will see the development of a new subsea fiber-optic cable system, known as Iokwe, that will interconnect the Marshall Islands directly with Google’s Halaihai cable system.

The project is supported by US Government funding, with a feasibility study funded by the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).

Full details and timelines weren’t shared, but Submarine Networks reports the system will be a branch of the Halaihai system landing in the Marshall Islands capital Majuro as well as Ebeye.

"Inclusion in the Pacific Connect system marks an important step in strengthening the Marshall Islands’ digital resilience and advancing national development priorities," said Dr. Yukiko Muller, president and CEO of the National Telecommunications Authority. "This collaboration with the United States and industry leaders like Google will unlock new opportunities in education, telehealth, and digital entrepreneurship for all our citizens.”

Announced in early 2024, Halaihai will connect Guam to French Polynesia. It is part of a series of cable investments Google is making in the Pacific Ocean, linking the Americas to Asia and Oceania.

"I’m excited to see our close collaboration with the Republic of the Marshall Islands and NTA come to fruition," added Brian Quigley, VP, global network infrastructure, Google Cloud. "The Iokwe cable will establish a foundation for long-term economic diversification and growth, strengthening redundancy and bridging the digital divide between the Pacific and the rest of the world."

The NTA said that in Marshallese, “Iokwe” holds different meanings: hello - a warm greeting; love - an expression of care; and rainbow - you are beautiful as one.

The Marshall Islands consist of 29 coral atolls and five main islands, with more than 1,000 smaller islands. Only one cable currently lands on the islands, with 2010’s Hantru1 system connecting Majuro and Kwajalein to Guam.

American Samoa to connect to Google’s Bulikula cable

The US Government said it was investing $132 million to connect the islands and American Samoa to the Pacific Connect program earlier this year.

American Samoa is set to deploy a new cable branch, known as La Vasa, connecting to Google’s Bulikula system. Le Vasa means “The Ocean” or “The Vast Sea.”

Plans for the Bulikula cable were first announced in January 2024 alongside the Halaihai cable, with the system set to connect Guam and Fiji.

The cable is reportedly expected to have 16 fiber pairs with a minimum design capacity of 6Tbps per pair. The system is expected to be operational by Q3 2026.

Totaling 77 squares miles (199 sqkm), American Samoa is a territory of the United States located in the Polynesia region of the south Pacific Ocean. It is the landing point for the Hawaiki system linking Australia to the US and the Samoa-American Samoa system linking the island to Samoa.

Google has invested in some 30 subsea cables in the past 15 years, more than any other hypescaler, both privately and part of multi-party consortia. Its subsea projects criss-cross the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, with many landing on small island nations that have historically lacked major cable investment.

The search giant is developing multiple cable landing stations and “connectivity hubs” across a number of island locations in the Pacific and around Oceania to support its network build-out.