Halaihai

Overview

Halaihai is a trans-Pacific submarine cable system spanning approximately 17,483 kilometres. It connects South America, the central Pacific, and the western Pacific, linking Chile, French Polynesia, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. The cable is wholly owned by Google and is planned to be ready for service in 2027.

Route and Landings

In Chile, the cable lands at Valparaíso, on the country's central Pacific coast.

French Polynesia hosts two landing points: Faratea and Papenoo, both located on the island of Tahiti.

In Guam, the cable comes ashore at Tanguisson Point, on the island's northern coast.

The Northern Mariana Islands is served by a landing at Tinian.

Ownership and Operators

Halaihai is owned entirely by Google. Google has developed a growing portfolio of privately owned submarine cable infrastructure across the Pacific and Atlantic basins, using dedicated systems to support its global network.

Status and Timeline

Halaihai is planned for service with a ready-for-service date of 2027. The system is not yet operational.

Regional Context

The corridor that Halaihai will serve — spanning from the South American west coast through French Polynesia to Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands — is served by a number of other long-haul cable systems. South America-1 (SAm-1) and the South American Crossing (SAC) have connected Chile to trans-Pacific routes since 2000 and 2001 respectively. More recently, Bifrost (RFS 2025) and Bulikula (RFS 2026) have added capacity involving Guam and, in Bulikula's case, French Polynesia and the Northern Mariana Islands as well — a routing profile closely resembling that of Halaihai. Asia Connect Cable-1 (ACC-1), also terminating in Guam, is planned for 2028. Within this evolving landscape, Halaihai represents a further investment in connectivity across this corridor. Measured round-trip latency through Halaihai over the past 60 days averages 358.3 ms, with a best recorded reading of 329.8 ms, consistent with the distances involved across a route of this length.

Strategic Role

By linking Chile directly to French Polynesia, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands, Halaihai provides Google with a dedicated trans-Pacific path that spans four distinct territories. The two French Polynesian landing points — Faratea and Papenoo — give the system a degree of geographic redundancy in the central Pacific. The Tinian landing in the Northern Mariana Islands extends the cable's reach into a part of the western Pacific that has fewer cable connections than Guam, where multiple systems already converge. At 17,483 kilometres, Halaihai is shorter than several of its regional peers, reflecting its routing through the central Pacific rather than further north.