SYDNEY, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Papua New Guinea said on

Friday that Alphabet's Google will build three subsea

cables, funded by Australia under a mutual defence treaty, in a

key upgrade to the digital backbone of the biggest Pacific

Island nation.

Australian and U.S. military strategists view resource-rich

but largely under-developed Papua New Guinea (PNG) as having a

prized location north of Australia at a time when China is

boosting its influence in the region.

The $120-million effort will link northern and southern

Papua New Guinea and the Bougainville autonomous region with

high-capacity cables, said Peter Tsiamalili, PNG's acting

minister for information and communications technology.

"The entire investment (is) funded through Australia's

commitments under the Pukpuk Treaty," he said in a statement,

referring to the mutual defence pact signed in October.

The project reflected both nations' shared commitment to

advance digital security, regional stability, and national

development, he added.

The subsea cables will be built by Google, the statement

said, adding that Tsiamalili met Australian and U.S. diplomats

to discuss the project at Google's Australian office this week.

A Google Australia spokeswoman declined to comment on the

PNG project.

Australia's foreign affairs department did not immediately

respond to a request for comment.

The three international-grade subsea cables will cut

reliance on single points of failure, and position PNG to

attract investment from hyper-scalers and global digital

enterprises, Tsiamalili said.

The pact between Australia and PNG, known as the Pukpuk

Treaty, gives Australian defence personnel access to PNG

communications systems, including satellite stations and cables,

its text shows.

Reuters previously reported Google planned to build a data

hub on Australia's Indian Ocean outpost of Christmas Island,

another strategic defence location.

Two new cables are planned to link it eastwards with

Australian cities hosting key defence bases also used by the

U.S. military.

Google confirmed the Christmas Island data hub last month,

saying two more cable systems would link its westwards with

Africa and Asia, to "deepen the resilience" of internet

infrastructure".

The United States is also strengthening military ties with

PNG, signing a defence cooperation pact in 2023.