Pacific Islands Telecommunication Association

Held from 5–7 November 2024 at the Holiday Inn in Suva, Fiji, the PITA Submarine Cable Technical Workshop and Training brought together Pacific telecommunications professionals for a focused, capacity-building workshop training aiming to bridge critical knowledge gaps and empower Pacific engineers with the understanding needed to customize and optimize submarine cable networks and services

The training covered:

• Optical Fundamentals and WDM technologies
• Submarine Line Terminal Equipment (SLTE)
• Unrepeated systems and wet plant design
• Power budget calculations and fault localization techniques
• Spectrum sharing, open cable systems, and AI Ops
• Integration with IPLC and IP Transit services

The sessions combined theoretical learning with practical insights, emphasizing on understanding specific technical details in the design, operate, and in troubleshooting undersea cable systems.

In aiming to build these deepening foundational technical knowledge, the workshop is also to help equip on empowering Pacific engineers for optimising the interconnect with the growing number of new cable players entering the region. Enhancing local expertise strengthen operational readiness and promote smarter integration and partnership opportunities across multiple systems and providers.

The event concluded with a technical tour of the FINTEL submarine cable landing station, offering rare insights into the physical interconnection points of international cables. Participants gained a visual appreciation for the complex environments and precision engineering required to maintain the region’s undersea connectivity lifelines.

This technical initiative reinforces PITA’s commitment to building localized competence for a resilient and self-sustaining digital Pacific.