The technology company Google will work together with the United States and Australia to offer internet service to Pacific Island nations such as Tuvalu.
The agreement continues a project Google is working on in the area.
The announcement came on the same day that Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House.
The state visit has been planned for a long time.
The underwater cable project will bring internet service to Tuvalu, Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste and Vanuatu.
A Biden administration official said Australia will provide $50 million for the project and the U.S. will give $15 million.
The Pacific islands are an area of interest for both the U.S. and China. Each nation has been working to expand their relationships with the island nations. They have been promising military partnerships and building projects.
Biden has said work by U.S. telecommunications and internet companies such as Google is a national security issue. The companies that own or oversee cables that connect small countries to the internet can control the flow of information around the world.
For example, Google, which is owned by parent company Alphabet, is working on a cable project that links Taiwan with the U.S. and the Philippines.
A United States official told Reuters the Pacific islands will get help with cybersecurity as part of the project.
I’m Dan Friedell.
