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Good practice Imported

Coral Sea Cable System & Solomon Islands Domestic Network

Solomon Islands · Honiara · See the Solomon Islands profile · See the Honiara profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 55% 72/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Solomon Islands had no undersea internet cable until December 2019. The Australian-financed Coral Sea Cable System and its domestic fibre network connected Honiara and three provincial centres, coinciding with internet penetration rising from ~11% (2017) to 42.5% (2025).

11-12 % of population
Internet penetration (2017)
42.5 % of population (352,000 users)
Internet penetration (January 2025)
52 USD/Mbps/month
Wholesale bandwidth price (2020)
21 USD/Mbps/month
Wholesale bandwidth price (2023)

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Solomon Islands Submarine Cable Company (SISCC) / Coral Sea Cable Company / Australian DFAT
Period
2017 initiated - operational December 2019 - present
Keywords
broadband infrastructure, submarine cable, digital connectivity, development finance, island/rural access

Context

Before 2019, Solomon Islands relied entirely on costly, low-capacity satellite links for international connectivity, holding back e-government, business and household internet access.

Objectives

Connect Solomon Islands to international submarine fibre and extend a domestic fibre network to Honiara and provincial centres to improve broadband access.

Activities

The 4,700 km Coral Sea Cable System, financed mainly by Australia (66.7% of ~AUD 200m/USD 131m) via the Coral Sea Cable Company and SISCC, became operational in December 2019, paired with a 730 km Solomon Islands Domestic Network reaching Honiara, Auki, Noro and Taro.

Results

Internet penetration rose from roughly 11-12% (2017) to 42.5% / 352,000 users (January 2025) per DataReportal; regional wholesale bandwidth price benchmarks reportedly fell from ~USD 52/Mbps/month (2020) to ~USD 21/Mbps/month (2023). No independent academic post-implementation impact evaluation specific to Solomon Islands was located.

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

Commonly funded by

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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