Honotua

Overview

Honotua is a submarine cable system spanning 4,805 kilometres that connects the islands of French Polynesia with the United States, specifically the island of Hawaii. The cable serves the trans-Pacific corridor between French Polynesia and Hawaii, providing connectivity across multiple Polynesian islands from a single system. It is owned and operated by OPT French Polynesia, the territory's public telecommunications operator.

Route and Landings

In French Polynesia, the cable lands at five points: Huahine, Moorea, Papenoo, Uturoa, and Vaitape. These landings span several of the territory's main islands, including Tahiti (Papenoo), Moorea, Raiatea (Uturoa), Bora Bora (Vaitape), and Huahine.

In the United States, the cable lands at Kawaihae on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Ownership and Operators

Honotua is wholly owned by OPT French Polynesia (Office des Postes et Télécommunications de Polynésie française), the public postal and telecommunications authority of French Polynesia. As the sole owner, OPT French Polynesia manages the cable's operation and maintenance across the entire system.

Status and Timeline

Honotua entered service in 2010 and currently operates as an active submarine cable system connecting French Polynesia to Hawaii.

Regional Context

The corridor between French Polynesia and the United States is served by several cable systems of varying scale. Compared to large multi-territory systems such as the Southern Cross Cable Network at 30,500 kilometres and the Asia-America Gateway Cable System at 20,000 kilometres, Honotua is a more focused, intra-corridor cable at 4,805 kilometres, dedicated specifically to connecting French Polynesia's island communities to a Hawaii hub. The forthcoming Bulikula cable, with a ready-for-service date of 2026, will add further capacity on a French Polynesia–United States route.

Measured performance over the last 60 days across 47 ping tests shows an average round-trip latency of 143.1 milliseconds, with a best recorded result of 109.1 milliseconds, reflecting the roughly 4,800-kilometre trans-Pacific distance the cable spans.

Strategic Role

By landing at five separate island points across French Polynesia — Huahine, Moorea, Papenoo, Uturoa, and Vaitape — and connecting them to Kawaihae in Hawaii, Honotua enables direct international submarine cable access across a geographically dispersed Pacific island territory. The concentration of French Polynesian landings across multiple islands, rather than a single gateway, reflects the territorial connectivity requirements of a widely spread archipelago. OPT French Polynesia's sole ownership of the cable gives the territory direct control over this link between its islands and the broader trans-Pacific network.