U.S. Navy Region Hawaii and Hawaiian Telcom are touting the completion of a joint project that put the largest fiber-optic cable ever installed in Hawaii beneath Pearl Harbor. Running underground, the cable creates a direct link between urban Honolulu and West Oahu.

During a news conference at the Rainbow Bay Marina on Tuesday, Hawaiian Telcom President Su Shin said the project demonstrates how the company is “continuing to invest, to bridge the digital divide in the state of Hawaii, connecting all of our islands across the state, making sure that every single resident has access to high-speed broadband, investing over a billion dollars to make that a reality.”

Nearly all of the world’s internet data, which plays an increasingly central role in modern life, travels through these cables. Hawaii internet access depends on a series of interisland cables as well as cables across the ocean floor connecting to both Asia and North America.

In a statement, Gov. Josh Green said, “Hawaii’s unique location in the middle of the Pacific makes reliable connectivity essential for all who live and work here. Additional fiber connectivity helps ensure access to essential services, public safety resources, healthcare, education and commerce.”

Chris Mommaerts, director of information technology and communications at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-­Hickam, said, “Not only does this help redundancy, diversity, and resilience in the communication systems on the island of Oahu, it also helps the other islands through the interisland subsea cable (and) helps connect us to those cables that bridge the Pacific from the West Coast of the United States mainland to all of Asia.”

Both federal and local officials have been increasingly concerned about potential vulnerabilities to cables. In January 2022 a massive underwater volcanic eruption and earthquake destroyed over 100 miles of the undersea cable connecting Tonga to the outside world. It took the country entirely offline for three days, with the major disruption continuing for weeks.

But natural disasters aren’t the only potential threats officials are worried about.

In April 2022, Hawaii- based agents with Homeland Security Investigations said they “disrupted” an attempted cyberattack against an unnamed private company’s servers associated with an undersea cable after receiving a tip from their mainland HSI counterparts. The agency said that “an international hacking group” was behind the attack, and “HSI agents and international law enforcement partners in several countries were able to make an arrest,” but provided no additional details.

In May 2023, officials in Palau said the Chinese research vessel Haiyang Dizhi Liuhao entered Palau’s territory without providing any notification to local authorities and acted suspiciously when it approached an undersea cable. Palau’s national security coordinator, Jennifer Anson, told Benar News that the vessel “slowed to about 1-2 knots as it passed over Palau’s fiber optic cable. It continued with questionable maneuvers, passing about 45 nautical miles from Kayangel (Palau’s northernmost state and islands). Attempts by the Joint Operation Center to contact the vessel via VHF radio were unsuccessful.”

In 2023 the governments of Japan, Australia and the U.S. said they would invest millions in shoring up cables across Micronesian island chains. Increasing competition with China has prompted regional governments to pay closer attention to the security of their cable infrastructure.

“The need for higher-speed data transmission to support defense, government, commercial, and residential demands is fueling the expansion of fiber-optic networks nationwide,” said U.S. Rep. Ed Case in a news release. “This historic project provides massive capacity to support Hawaii’s growing strategic position in the Pacific region.”

Hawaii is the home of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and is the nerve center for all U.S. military operations in the region. Military leaders have been working to shore up aging military infrastructure on Oahu and across the Pacific. That includes cyber infrastructure.

“This is a significant project that has far-reaching community benefits,” said Col. Monica Gramling, deputy commander of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. “We’re pleased to partner with the private sector to enhance communications connectivity for Oahu residents and businesses and enable the Department of Defense to modernize our infrastructure.”

Mainland defense contractors have been flying in and out of Hawaii in droves in hopes of cashing in on the Pentagon’s plans to ramp up operations in the Pacific, which the military currently considers its top-priority theater of operations. But local companies are looking to benefit as well.

Chris Laine, general manager of Hawaiian Telcom Federal, said, “(Our company has) been around for quite some time. And now that we’re back in the (Department of Defense) space, we’re partnering with the DoD, which is a great opportunity for all of us.”