Final testing of the Hawaiki Cable is about to begin, with the last splice of the 15,000km high-capacity cable made this week and the cable on track to be in service commercially next month.

The trans-Pacific submarine cable connects Australia and New Zealand to Hawaii and Oregon, on the West Coast of the United States, with an initial capacity of 43.8Tbps per second – the equivalent of 80,000 times the satellite capacity to the region, according to Malcolm Dick director of Auckland-based Hawaiki Cable, which is behind the build.

“It’s a mind-boggling number – it’s sufficient to download 1200 high definition videos a second,” he says. “It’s enough for all of Australia and New Zealand for the conceivable future.

Dick said that initial capacity will also increase. “As the technology on the ends improves we can put faster equipment on.”

Hawaiki Submarine Cable said this evening that with the final splice and all cable station installations complete, the cable now has end-to-end connectivity and is entering final system testing.

The cable, which uses TE SubCom’s optical add/drop multiplexing nodes which allow for additional landings to be added as needed, is the first carrier-neutral cable system between Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

“Hawaiki will bring greater connectivity, diversity and security of supply to the market,” Hawaiki Cable CEO, Remi Galasso said. “Because of its scope and impact for communities across the Pacific region, the Hawaiki Cable System is a critical and multi-faceted endeavour.

“We are pleased with the progress to date and are looking forward to the project’s completion in June and the much needed capacity it will bring to the region,” Galasso said.

Last week the cable was successfully landed in Tafuna, America Samoa. Branching units to New Caledonia, Fiji and Tonga will be added in future.