US submarine cable company SubCom said it would lay down an internet link from Australia to Hong Kong through Papua New Guinea, deepening its involvement in a region where China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd has sought to expand, said Reuters.
The route will be the most direct internet link yet between Australia and China. It will also include a connection to Madang in Papua New Guinea and possible branches to Port Moresby and to Honiara in the Solomon Islands, connections Huawei had agreed to make before Australia blocked its project there last year on the grounds of security concerns.
The SubCom cable would likely stifle any commercial case for future Huawei cables in the region, according to Jonathan Pryke, the director of Pacific Islands research at Sydney-based think-tank the Lowy Institute.