PNG DataCo Limited wishes to advise its customers, partners and the general public of several recent network incidents that affected services in parts of Papua New Guinea, as well as ongoing international service degradation impacting access to some content and services hosted in Asia. The majority of the affected domestic services have now been fully restored, while repair activities continue on the Vanimo submarine cable fault.
- Gerehu Earth Station Power Incident
On 19 September 2026 at 8:37 pm, a commercial power supply issue at PNG DataCo’s Gerehu Earth Station affected services associated with the Gerehu Earth Station, Data Centre, Kerema and Daru. Investigations determined the issue was linked to abnormal power phase rotation following maintenance works on the power network by PNG Power Ltd. Permanent restoration of the Gerehu power systems was completed on 21 September 2026 at 9:04 pm, while services to Kerema and Daru were subsequently restored on 23 September 2026 at 3:30 pm. All affected services have been restored.
- Madang–Yonki Terrestrial Fibre Cable Break
On 19 September 2026 at 6:15 pm, a terrestrial fibre optic cable along the Madang–Yonki corridor was damaged as a result of vandalism, resulting in disruption of services to Lae, Yonki and the Highlands Region. Temporary restoration was completed on 21 September 2026 at 2:40 am, followed by permanent restoration works which were completed later that evening. All affected services have now been restored.
- Vanimo Submarine Cable Break
A submarine cable fault affecting services to Vanimo was first detected on 25 August 2026, impacting Point-to-Point (P2P), IEPL and Wholesale Internet Services delivered through the Vanimo Cable Landing Station affecting services in the Sandaun Province. PNG DataCo has mobilised repair preparations, including engagement of a specialist cable repair vessel and the staging of cable spares for repair operations. Restoration works are being planned with the current target restoration date of 23 October 2026.
- Australia–Singapore Cable (ASC) Fault – International Service Degradation
PNG DataCo also wishes to advise customers that some internet services and content hosted in Asia may continue to experience periods of degraded performance, increased latency or intermittent accessibility due to the ongoing fault on the Australia–Singapore Cable (ASC). The cable owner has advised that the fault has been isolated and that international traffic is currently being managed through alternative network paths while repair preparations continue.
As with all submarine cable repairs, this schedule remains subject to permitting approvals, vessel movements, weather conditions, sea state and the condition of the cable once recovered for repair.
PNG DataCo apologises for the inconvenience caused by these incidents and appreciates the patience and understanding of our customers and the public whilst restoration activities have been undertaken.
Our engineering, operations and field teams continue to work closely with our domestic and international partners to maintain service availability and minimise the impact of network disruptions.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the outage, please don’t hesitate to contact our NOC team on +675 313 3936 or noc@pngdataco.com.
Authorized By
Paul Komboi, OBE, GCL
Chief Executive Officer
