The cable claims to be the first end-to-end submarine and terrestrial system capable of reaching 100Gbps transmissions.
ASC International, a subsidiary of Leighton Contractors, will build the multi-terabit submarine cable system to cover over 4,800km, and it is designed to provide almost eight times more capacity than other regional routes. The cable design has an ultimate capacity of at least 6 Tbit/s and the potential to reach a capacity of over 16 Tbps with the 100GGbps option.
Philippe Dumont, president of Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks SAS explained how 40G is key in meeting today’s multi-terabit capacity demands. “100G technology for submarine links is the next step to meet future bandwidth demand and match high-sped interconnection requirements with terrestrial networks,” he said.
The new project will land in Perth on the western coast of Australia and in Singapore with the project scheduled to begin commercial operations in 2013. The cable is designed to meet the growing demand for higher performing networks while supporting the increase in data traffic generated by smartphones and cloud computing across the region.
Peter McGrath, chairman of ASC International and executive GM of Leighton Telecommunications said: “This new cable system will fill the much needed gap in the market place connecting Australia via the Indian Ocean to Singapore and offering a more cost effective, higher capacity and lower latency route than alternative east coast routes.”
Increasingly, businesses are looking for the lowest latency options making it a priority for telcos and vendors. Paul Budde from research firm Buddecomm said: "Latency becomes more important as services become more professional and more sophisticated, quality is required."
