Manatua
The Manatua Cable Consortium
The Manatua cable consortium was formed following the signing of an International Treaty in November 2018 between the governments of the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and French Polynesia. Signed by the Prime Ministers of the four nations, the treaty established the consortium to build and operate the Manatua cable. This ground-breaking collaboration was the first of its kind in the Pacific and enabled the four nations to achieve, through collaboration, a system that none of the countries could realistically afford alone.
The consortium comprises Avaroa Cables Ltd for the Cook Islands, Niue Telecom for Niue, the Samoa Submarine Cable Company, and Office des Postes et Telecommunications for French Polynesia. It is the first consortium of its type anywhere in the Pacific.
The consortium is underpinned by a Construction and Maintenance Agreement which sets out how the collaboration to build the cable will work, how the cable will be operated, how costs will be allocated between the parties, how connectivity resources will be allocated and how associated revenues will be shared. The consortium agreement runs for 25 years, the operating life of the cable. While the consortium approach makes the Manatua Cable project financially feasible, it does add a significant degree of complexity.
The Manatua Cable Project is
The consummation of this historic achievement as a physical articulation of regional cooperation by the Polynesian nations and leaders
Ko te Niuniu Manatua
Ko te akakite’anga teia i te puāpinga tikai tei rauka mei roto i te tā’okotai’anga o te au Arataki o te au Pa enua Porinētia
Communique of the meeting of the Manatua Consortium government leaders and representatives; 9 November 2018.
