Wewak, Papua New Guinea

Wewak: Submarine Cable Landing Point

Wewak is the capital of East Sepik Province, situated on the northern coast of the island of New Guinea in Papua New Guinea. As the largest town on that stretch of coastline between Madang and Jayapura, its position makes it a natural node for submarine cable infrastructure serving the northern coast of the country. One submarine cable lands at Wewak, connecting it to Papua New Guinea's domestic and regional cable network.

The cable landing at Wewak is part of the Kumul Domestic Submarine Cable System, a large-scale domestic network that links multiple points within Papua New Guinea and extends to Indonesia. This places Wewak within a corridor that spans both domestic inter-island connectivity and cross-border regional connectivity between Papua New Guinea and its western neighbour.

Cables Landing at Wewak

The Kumul Domestic Submarine Cable System is the sole submarine cable landing at Wewak. The system has a total length of 5,457 km and reached ready-for-service (RFS) status in 2019, with a draft designation noted. Beyond Papua New Guinea itself, the cable connects to Indonesia, making it a system that bridges domestic Papua New Guinean localities with an international partner. The inclusion of Wewak among its landing points reflects the cable's design to serve communities along Papua New Guinea's northern coastline.

Regional Context

Within Papua New Guinea's submarine cable landscape — which comprises five submarine cables distributed across fifteen landing points — Wewak ranks alongside several other single-cable landing points including Alotau, Arawa, Daru, and Kavieng. Port Moresby leads the country with four cables, while Madang hosts two. Wewak's position is comparable to the majority of Papua New Guinean landing points, which each serve as a terminus for a single cable system.

Network Role

Wewak functions as a single-cable terminus on the Kumul Domestic Submarine Cable System, contributing to the broader goal of extending submarine connectivity along Papua New Guinea's northern coast. The cable's reach to Indonesia adds a cross-border dimension to what is primarily a domestic network, meaning Wewak participates not only in intra-Papua New Guinea connectivity but also in a regional link between the two countries that share the island of New Guinea.

In the broader submarine cable graph of Papua New Guinea, Wewak represents one of fifteen landing points working in concert to distribute connectivity across a geographically dispersed and island-heavy nation. Its role as a northern coastal access point on the Kumul system reinforces the network's geographic spread across the country.