New Zealand ISP Orcon has signed a letter of intent with submarine cable group Hawaiki Cable Limited, confirming its intention to acquire international bandwidth on the ANZ/US segments of the Hawaiki submarine cable system.

Hawaiki's 14,000 km trans-Pacific cable, scheduled for completion in late 2015, will link New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii to the US west coast.

In July this year, Hawaiki signed a memorandum of understanding with the regional economic development body Northland Inc. to land its cable in Whangarei.

The multi-million dollar deal with Orcon, who was acquired by a consortium of local business people earlier this year, will see the ISP purchase 40Gbps capacity in year one, with substantial increases planned in additional years, that it said will help to unlock the potential of New Zealand's broadband market.

Orcon CEO Greg McAlister says the decision to partner Hawaiki stemmed from the need to secure competitively priced international capacity to support Orcon's continued growth, and the growing demands of New Zealand internet users.

“The country's bandwidth requirements are more than doubling year-on-year, and with the growth of video services, and proliferation of devices, this growth rate could even increase," he says.

“We are really excited to be able to work with a new cable provider to secure a substantial amount of bandwidth.

"In fact, it's imperative to New Zealand's development that we have a second cable network. Competition leads to better prices, and we'll be able to offer these in turn to our customers.

Hawaiki Cable CEO Rémi Galasso says the agreement with Orcon was another important milestone.

“We are building momentum and the commitment of Orcon brings us another step closer to system deployment.

"Companies like Orcon see the future and advantages of a future-proof cable system that links New Zealand directly to the US and the rest of the world.