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Good practice

Coral Sea Cable System & Solomon Islands Domestic Network

Solomon Islands · Honiara · See the Solomon Islands profile

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.

Data sources

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

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