In February this year, the three companies signed a non-binding MoU for the TGA, which will span Sydney and Auckland with a design capacity of 30Tbps.
The companies are expected to select a preferred tender in the coming months, a contract due to be in place towards the end of 2013 and initial construction on the cable set for 2014.
Two landing options on the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island are being considered by the companies – one north of Auckland and one south – and a number of sites in northern and southern Sydney are being investigated for the Australian landing port.
The TGA will consist of 2,300km of undersea cable, deploying 100G technology, and is due to be operational in early 2015.
