NEC has completed construction of the East Micronesia Cable System (EMCS), a roughly 2,250-kilometer (1,398 mile) submarine cable network linking the Pacific island nations of Kiribati, Nauru, and the Federated States of Micronesia.

The system connects Tarawa in Kiribati to Nauru, then onward through Kosrae to Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia. The link has been handed to the region’s telecommunications operators, including FSM Telecommunications Cable Corporation, Bwebweriki Net Limited, and Cenpac Corporation.

The EMCS completion marks a major infrastructure upgrade for several Pacific island communities that have historically relied primarily on satellite connectivity, which can introduce higher latency, lower bandwidth capacity, and less reliable service.

For Kosrae and Nauru in particular, the system represents their first direct optical submarine cable connections. NEC and regional officials framed the project as both a connectivity initiative and an economic development effort aimed at accelerating digitalization in underserved Pacific markets.

Cenpac chair Zikki Eoe said there are “high expectations that this will significantly accelerate Nauru's economic development and digitalization going forward.”

The EMCS project adds to NEC’s significant footprint in the global submarine cable market. The company said it has deployed more than 400,000km (248,548 miles) of submarine cable infrastructure worldwide over the past six decades, with a particularly strong presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

This project was first announced in 2023, and Australian data center firm DXN signed a contract to deliver four cable landing stations for EMCS in 2024.

Over the past year, industry attention has increasingly focused on subsea cable resiliency, route diversity, and capacity expansion as hyperscalers and telecom operators continue building out global digital infrastructure. Cable systems are becoming increasingly critical to AI-era networking demands and geopolitical communications strategies.