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The announcement is a recent pledge of funding from Western allies in the Pacific telecommunications sector.
The United States, Australia and Japan have said they will co-finance the construction of a submarine cable to boost Internet access in three small Pacific countries as Western allies seek to counter China’s greater influence in the region.
The three Western allies said on Sunday that they would develop cable to provide faster internet to the Federated States of Nauru, Kiribati and Micronesia.
“This will help boost economic growth, boost development opportunities and improve living standards as the region recovers from the severe effects of COVID-19,” a joint statement from the US, Japan and Australia said.
The three allies have not specified how much the project will cost.
The development of the submarine cable is a final commitment by Western allies to funding the Pacific telecommunications sector.
The United States and its Indo-Pacific allies are concerned that the cables laid by the People’s Republic of China could jeopardize regional security. Beijing has refused to use commercial fiber-optic cables for spying, which have a higher data capacity than satellites.
Australia spent about A $ 137 million ($ 98.2 million) in 2017 to develop better Internet access for the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.
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