Google announced that it plans to make a $1 billion investment to further expand its Central Pacific Connect Initiative, which includes delivering two new subsea cables, Proa and Taihei.

A press release said that the partners for the two new cable systems include Japanese telecom operators KDDI and ARTERIA, the Private Equity firm Citadel Pacific, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). NEC will deliver both cable systems.

Per the release, Proa, which is named after the traditional sailing canoes of the Mariana Islands, will become the first of two subsea cables to land in the CNMI as it crosses between Japan, Guam and the U.S. In addition to Proa, the Taiwan-Philippines-U.S. (TPU) cable, which is also owned by Google, will be extended to the CNMI.

The Tabua cable, which is to be supplied by SubCom and be operational in 2026, will now be extended to Hawaii. It will add an extra stop on its route from the U.S. to Fiji and Australia. The Central Pacific Connect initiative was launched in October 2023, with the Honomoana and Tabua cables announced as the first two projects. Earlier this year Google expanded the initiative with the announcement of the Bulikula and Halaihai cables.

In addition to its cables connecting East Asia with the west coast of the U.S., Google will fund construction of an interlink cable connecting Hawaii, the CNMI, and Guam in the Pacific. This interlink will connect the transpacific routes, improving their reliability and reducing latency for users in the Pacific Islands and around the world.

Google and KDDI have a long history of collaboration on submarine cables, including cable landings in Japan. CEO Makoto Takahashi said he was delighted his firm was partnering once again with Google.

Until Google’s Topaz cable arrived in Takahagi, the region had not had a new cable land for twenty years. ARTERIA supported the landing of Topaz and leveraging the same landing facilities will expand its partnership with Google to support the new cable. “Connectivity between Tokyo, the heart of the Internet in Japan, and overseas has been concentrated in Minamiboso,” said Tatsuya Abe, CEO of ARTERIA Corporation. He noted that the Ibaraki region, which includes Takahagi where the Taihei cable will land, has been somewhat neglected.

Citadel Pacific owns IT&E, the largest wireless provider in Micronesia. Citadel Pacific CEO Jim Beighley said the new cables would allow IT&E to deliver significantly expanded internet services to the residents of the islands it serves. “The CNMI will be directly connected to international networks for the first time in history,” he said.