With the landing of the INDIGO Central subsea communications cable at Coogee Beach in Sydney, the INDIGO consortium has announced another significant milestone in the implementation of its INDIGO cable system.
Installation of the INDIGO Central cable is due to complete early December and once in service, it will provide a new and unique subsea communications link between Sydney and Perth.
This announcement follows the recent landing of the INDIGO WEST cable from Singapore to Perth and the commencement of INDIGO Central marine installation from Perth, both announced in September. The INDIGO West and Central subsea cables are designed to complement each other and when adjoined, they will provide Australia’s first and only direct optical path connecting Sydney to Singapore.
Construction of the overall INDIGO cable system is on-track and will be ready for service by mid-2019.
The 9,200km INDIGO cable system, comprising INDIGO West and INDIGO Central, will strengthen links between Australia and the fast-growing Southeast Asian markets, providing lower latency and enhanced reliability. Using today’s coherent optical technology, the cable’s two-fibre pairs will be able to support up to 36 terabits per second.
Singtel’s Vice President, Carrier Services, Group Enterprise, Mr Ooi Seng Keat said “The landing of INDIGO Central cable by Optus is a landmark development which will boost Australia’s communications ecosystem with much-needed high-speed capacity and network diversity. Together with INDIGO West, the next-generation INDIGO Central data superhighway will enhance Singtel and Optus’ subsea networks, creating a cable ring connecting Australia to Singapore, through Southeast Asia, across the Pacific and back to Australia.”
The INDIGO cable system will utilise new spectrum sharing technology so each consortium member will have the ability to independently take advantage of technology advancements for future upgrades and capacity increases on demand.
Mr Drew Kelton, Chief Executive Officer, Superloop on behalf of SubPartners, said the completion of INDIGO is a significant boost to Superloop’s strategy in the Asia Pacific region to build international capacity and connectivity between its metropolitan networks. “We’re on a journey to interconnect and virtualise businesses across the Asia Pacific region, and the go-live of INDIGO will accelerate that plan significantly.”
AARNet’s CEO Mr Chris Hancock said: “This is a significant milestone for the INDIGO project and a great leap forward for research and education in Australia. The first trans-Australian submarine cable will provide a critical diverse express path between Sydney and Perth to support the huge data transfer demands of the Pawsey Centre, NCI, and the significant growth in data-intensive collaborative research for all researchers across the country”.
About AARNet
Australia’s Academic and Research Network (AARNet) provides high capacity national and international telecommunications infrastructure and collaboration services for the nation’s research and education sector, including universities, health and other research organisations, schools, vocational training providers and cultural institutions. AARNet serves over one million end users who access the network for teaching, learning and research. For more information, visit www.aarnet.edu.au.
About Indosat Ooredoo
Indosat Ooredoo (IDX:ISAT), member of Ooredoo Group, is building Indonesia’s leading digital telco, enabling access and greater connectivity for everybody and every business. Focusing on human growth, Indosat Ooredoo aspires to enrich the lives of Indonesians in the digital world and proactively offer solutions to fulfill their needs. The company reported 85.7 million mobile customers as end of year 2016 and has recorded an increase of 147% in data usage compared to last year. Supported by more than 4,000 employees, Indosat Ooredoo has recorded an increase revenue of 9% compared to last year. Indosat Ooredoo was recognised in the Most Innovative Company of the Year category in the 2015 Asia Pacific Stevie Awards. For more information, visit http://www.indosatooredoo.com.
About Singtel
Singtel is Asia’s leading communications technology group, providing a portfolio of services from next-generation communication, technology services to infotainment to both consumers and businesses. For consumers, Singtel delivers a complete and integrated suite of services, including mobile, broadband and TV. For businesses, Singtel offers a complementary array of workforce mobility solutions, data hosting, cloud, network infrastructure, analytics and cyber-security capabilities. The Group has presence in Asia, Australia and Africa and reaches over 700 million mobile customers in 21 countries. Its infrastructure and technology services for businesses span 21 countries, with more than 428 direct points of presence in 362 cities. For more information, visit www.singtel.com. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SingtelNews.
Optus is the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Singtel Group and services over ten million customers each day. It provides a broad range of communications services including mobile, telephony, business network services, internet and satellite services and subscription television. For more information, please visit www.optus.com.au.
About SubPartners
SubPartners develops high performance, secure international cable systems capable of providing improved connectivity between Australia and the rest of the world. SubPartners is part of Superloop (ASX:SLC) – a leading provider of connectivity and managed services in Australia and the Asia Pacific. Superloop owns and operates over 670 km of carrier-grade metropolitan fibre networks in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong, connecting more than 275 strategic sites in the region.
INDIGO West and INDIGO Central provides Superloop with the basis for connectivity between its existing metropolitan networks and further expansion into Asia, creating a fully meshed, pan-Asian network to meet growing customer demand across the region. Through the ability to swap capacity, for access to other international cable systems, it will also open up access to new markets and customers. Visit www.subpartners.net or www.superloop.com.
