nem and the Pacific Islands

The relationship between nem and the Pacific Islands stretches back almost 30 years, involving nearly every Pacific Island nation at some point. What began as banking and corporate finance work evolved in 2011 into large-scale project coordination—particularly in the fibre-optic submarine cable sector, which was rapidly becoming the digital backbone for these remote nations.

It quickly became clear that nem added the most value when a consortium approach was adopted. Over time, we built strong relationships with key industry specialists, forming a core working group that has successfully delivered major projects in the Solomon Islands, Samoa, Palau, and Vanuatu.

These successes led to our appointment to the Australia Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP) Capital Infrastructure Services Panel in 2020. Since then, we’ve served as the Project Coordination Unit (PCU) for the East Micronesia Cable Project and the Timor-Leste South Submarine Cable Project—both complex, high-value initiatives involving multi-lateral funding and regional coordination.

Beneath the Surface: A Personal Perspective

Author: Gary Ayre, Partner nem Australasia

If you’d told me back in 2011 that I’d still be working in submarine cables more than a decade later, I probably would’ve laughed. It started as a one-off financial advisory role—but that project pulled me in deeper, and I never really left.

I began with numbers: financial modelling, risk analysis, business cases. But as the projects grew, so did our involvement. We moved from finance into full-scale delivery—coordinating stakeholders, planning logistics, and managing operations on the ground.

Over the years, I’ve seen how these cables don’t just connect islands—they shape futures. And I’ve learned a few things along the way:

Funding has evolved

In the early days, laying submarine cables was largely a private sector initiative. The commercial case for first cables was strong—demand was growing, and the return on investment was clear. But as digital infrastructure matured, the need for second cables became critical—not just for added capacity, but for resilience and redundancy. These follow-up systems are rarely commercially viable on their own, especially in smaller markets. That’s where joint government funding has stepped in, bridging the gap and enabling builds that wouldn’t otherwise happen. This shift toward public-private collaboration has been a game-changer, ensuring that even the most remote nations stay connected and digitally resilient.

Satellites aren’t the answer

Satellite internet has made headlines, especially with new players like Starlink entering the market. And while it’s true that satellites offer broad coverage and rapid deployment, they come with limitations. They’re ideal for reaching isolated areas or providing temporary solutions, but they fall short when it comes to high-capacity, low-latency, and reliable connectivity. Fibre-optic submarine cables, on the other hand, deliver consistent performance at scale. They form the backbone of global internet infrastructure, supporting everything from cloud services to real-time communications. Satellites are a valuable complement—but they’re not a substitute.

Breaks happen. And fixing them is an art

Submarine cables are incredibly robust, but they’re not invincible. Breaks can occur due to fishing activity, anchor drags, seismic events, or even underwater landslides. When a fault happens, the response has to be fast and precise. We work with marine specialists like Optical Marine Services (OMS), who deploy advanced deep-sea technology to locate the break, lift the damaged section, and splice in new cable. It’s a highly specialised process involving coordination across vessels, engineers, and telecom operators. Every hour a cable is down affects data flow, reroutes traffic, and impacts services—so speed and accuracy are everything.

AI is changing the game

Artificial intelligence is reshaping industries, but what’s often overlooked is the infrastructure behind it. AI workloads are data-intensive—they require massive volumes of information to be processed, transferred, and stored in real time. This is driving unprecedented demand for high-capacity networks, low-latency connections, and robust data centre ecosystems. Submarine cables are central to this evolution, enabling the global movement of AI-generated data. As AI applications expand—from healthcare to autonomous systems—the pressure on digital infrastructure grows. Cables aren’t just supporting AI; they’re powering it.

Timing is everything

Submarine cable projects operate within razor-thin delivery windows. Miss a shipping slot, face a delay in permitting, or encounter bad weather, and you could lose months—sometimes even a full season. Every component of the build—from marine vessels and shore landings to civil works and regulatory approvals—has to be perfectly timed and sequenced. That’s why experience matters. Knowing how to navigate these constraints, anticipate risks, and coordinate across multiple stakeholders is what separates successful projects from stalled ones. In this space, precision isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity.

What gives me confidence is the strength of our partnerships and the trust we’ve built across the region. Because at the end of the day, cables aren’t about the ocean floor—they’re about what’s possible when people are truly connected.

Author:
Gary Ayre
Partner, nem Australasia
July 2025