ADB Committed to High Speed Internet Connectivity For Palau

Years of discussion, meetings and planning including criticism from the business community and the public as a whole, turtle-speed internet that has kept Palau from realizing the full potential of internet may be a thing of the past by the end of 2017.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) promises Palau’s connection to high speed internet in 2017 through the ADB funded submarine cable project, a long-awaited telecommunication link that will greatly improve communication in all aspect of life.

Making a historical visit to Palau on 10 Aug, ADB President Takehiko Nakao along with representatives visited active projects in Palau funded by the international organization including the proposed cable landing site for $25 million submarine cable project that will connect Palau to an existing fiber optic cable in Guam.

“The good thing about fiber optic cables is once they start they go very quickly”, says Emma M. Veve, ADB’s Regional Director for North Pacific. “In Palau’s case you’re not actually really building the cable yourself your connecting it to this cable that goes from Indonesia to Philippines and on to Guam.”

The project has progressed and is at stage where it will soon contract a project management unit.

It is anticipated to go online by October or November 2017 following the completion of the landing site on island, connection to the existing cable and testing.

The project once completed will bring high-speed internet to Palau for the first time providing greater efficiency, communication and multitudinous opportunities to the small island nation.