Telstra has scored an $8.2 million contract to land Vocus’s Coral Sea cable system at its Sydney landing site. The Australian Government earlier this year awarded a $136.6 million contract to Vocus to build the international cable between the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Australia.

Reports indicate that Telstra was judged to be the only network operator able to provide the required space within an existing cable landing station.

Vocus will build and manage the cable, which has been designed to run from Sydney to Port Moresby, and then to the Solomon Islands’ capital, Honiara. Completion is scheduled for late 2019. 

The Sydney-based company will also construct a domestic submarine network within the Solomon Islands.