Hawaiki Nui 1

Hawaiki Nui 1: Planned Trans-Pacific Connectivity

Hawaiki Nui 1 is a planned submarine cable system, expected to become operational in 2027, connecting multiple locations across the Pacific and Southeast Asia. Owned by BW Digital, the cable is designed to enhance connectivity between Australia, Southeast Asia, and Pacific Island nations, with landing points in Indonesia, Singapore, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Australia.

While details regarding its design capacity, fiber pairs, and supplier have not been disclosed, the cable's extensive route and strategic landing points suggest a significant role in regional and trans-Pacific telecommunications. Its construction is part of broader efforts to meet growing bandwidth demand and improve redundancy in the region. However, as the system is not yet operational, some technical and performance specifics remain unknown.

Quick facts

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Route

Hawaiki Nui 1 will traverse a diverse geographical corridor, connecting Southeast Asia to the Pacific and Australia. Its landing points include Batam and Jakarta in Indonesia, Changi in Singapore, Dili in Timor-Leste, Honiara in the Solomon Islands, Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, and Brisbane, Darwin, and Sydney in Australia.

These locations are strategically chosen to interconnect major economic hubs like Singapore and Sydney with smaller island nations and regional centers, potentially bridging gaps in digital infrastructure and offering new opportunities for economic and technological development.

Why it was built and what it carries

The primary purpose of Hawaiki Nui 1 is to address the increasing demand for high-speed internet connectivity across the Pacific and Southeast Asia. The cable is expected to support growing data traffic driven by cloud computing, video streaming, and enterprise applications, while also providing redundancy for existing systems in the region.

The inclusion of landing points in smaller nations like Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands highlights the cable's potential to improve connectivity in underserved areas, fostering digital inclusion and economic growth. However, the exact capacity and technical specifications of the cable remain undisclosed, making it challenging to assess its full impact at this stage.

History: what can be established

According to GeoCables data, Hawaiki Nui 1 is slated to be ready for service in 2027. As of now, the cable remains in the planning phase, and there is no publicly available information on its construction progress or supplier partnerships. While GeoCables lists 2027 as the RFS year, no conflicting dates have been identified in industry sources, leaving this timeline as the most reliable estimate.

Capacity and technology

Publicly available sources do not disclose the design capacity, number of fiber pairs, or specific technologies to be employed in Hawaiki Nui 1. Without operator documentation, it is impossible to provide an accurate assessment of these parameters. However, given the cable's planned route and its ownership by BW Digital, it is reasonable to expect modern high-capacity technologies, such as wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), to be employed.

Latency: the physics

Based on the cable's length of 10,000 km, the theoretical one-way light propagation delay is approximately 49.0 milliseconds, with a round-trip time (RTT) floor of about 98.0 milliseconds. These values are calculated assuming light travels through fiber at speeds between 200,000 and 204,000 km/s. However, real-world latency will be higher due to additional factors such as signal processing delays at repeaters, routing inefficiencies, and the impact of terrestrial network segments.

Live latency measurements from remote probes, which represent the full internet path rather than the cable itself, show values below the calculated physical floor in some cases. For example, measurements between Sydney and Honiara report a minimum latency of 22.7 ms, which is physically impossible for the cable alone and is likely a measurement artifact caused by rate-limited ICMP replies from intermediate routers. Such artifacts should not be interpreted as representative of the cable's performance.

Redundancy: what happens if it breaks

Hawaiki Nui 1 will operate in a region with multiple alternative cables. For example, Batam is connected to systems like Apricot, Asia United Gateway East, and Indonesia Global Gateway. Similarly, Sydney has access to cables such as APX East, Coral Sea Cable System, and Hawaiki. These alternatives provide redundancy in case of outages or maintenance on Hawaiki Nui 1. Standard industry practices for submarine cable repair include deploying cable ships equipped with remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) for fault localization and repair, which can take weeks depending on the location and severity of the damage.

Bottom line

• Hawaiki Nui 1 is a planned 10,000 km submarine cable expected to be ready for service in 2027.
• Owned by BW Digital, it will connect Southeast Asia to the Pacific and Australia, with nine landing points.
• Details on design capacity, fiber pairs, supplier, and technology are not publicly disclosed.
• Theoretical latency floor is 49.0 ms one-way; real-world latency will be higher.
• Redundancy will be provided by existing cables in the region.