ASH started out life as PacRim East, a two-pair fibre optic cable with electrical repeaters, capable of 560 mbps per pair that linked Hawaii and New Zealand. In 2009 the decommissioned cable was cut and dragged to Pago Pago, and brought back into service.
"The ASHC System will consist of two segments of digital fiber-optic cable. The first,
domestic, segment will connect Keawaula, on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, with Iliili, American Samoa. The second segment will connect Iliili, American Samoa, with Apia, Samoa. On the Hawaii-American Samoa segment, the ASHC System will consist of 2 optical fiber pairs, with a design capacity and initial configuration capacity of 1.12 Gbps. On the American Samoa-Samoa segment, the ASHC system will consist of 2 optical fiber pairs, with an design capacity of 160 Gbps but an initial capacity of 2.5Gbps..
To construct the ASHC System, the Applicants will remove a section of the former Pac Rim East undersea cable system between New Zealand and Hawaii (which ceased carrying commercial traffic on that route in 2007) and reinstall that section to terminate at the cable stations at Iliili, American Samoa, and Apia, Samoa.6 The new ASHC System will still use the same Hawaii landing facilities as the former Pac Rim East system, including the existing bore pipes, beach manhole, conduit, and Keawaula cable station. TPC-5 and the soon-to-be-built Sydney-Hawaii Cable System will also land in Hawaii using these facilities.7" From FCC Landing License Application
Total Cable Length 4368 km
Kewaula Beach to Iliili 4232 km
Iliili to Apia 136 km