Hong Kong – Telstra International, the global arm of leading telecommunications and technology company Telstra, will be partnering with Google and APTelecom to deliver the new central Pacific Connect initiative which will significantly uplift connectivity for people and businesses of the Pacific.

The two cables – which make up the central Pacific Connect initiative – Bulikula will connect Guam and Fiji, and Halaihai will connect and Guam and French Polynesia.

Telstra will be one of the key telecommunications providers of central Pacific Connect and will own and operate a fibre pair on the core trunk on the Bulikula cable connecting Guam and Fiji. Bulikula is the Fijian word for "golden cowrie," a rare shell found in the Pacific Ocean often worn by local chieftains as a badge of rank. The next step will be partnering with other carriers and governments to assist in building and operating branches to the Pacific islands. These branches will power access to vital digital services across the region and will improve network performance, redundancy and reliability.

"Telstra has decades of experience providing international connectivity in the Pacific, and with our network scale and local expertise, we are looking forward to partnering with Google and APTelecom to build reliable, high-performance connectivity for island countries. We're committed to improving infrastructure across the region which will support the future growth of local economies," said Roary Stasko, CEO Telstra International.

In addition, Telstra is partnering with Google on the Tabua cable which combined with the central Pacific Connect initiative, will dramatically improve the diversity of paths between Guam to Australia via Fiji and other Pacific islands, and between the US mainland and Australia.