A consortium consisting of Asian operators, Google and telecommunications infrastructure company Superloop have commissioned a new subsea able system linking Singapore, Indonesia and Australia.
Singtel, Indonesia’s Indosat Ooredoo as well as Australia’s Telstra and education sector network provider AARNet have joined Google and Superloop’s SubPartners to join the INDIGO cable system.
The cable system, formerly known as APX West and Central, will be deployed by Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks.
It will span around 9,000km between Singapore and Perth on the west coast of Australia, and onwards to Sydney on the east coast. A ranching unit with two additional fiber pairs will connect Singapore and Jakarta.
Construction of the cable is expected to be complete by mid-2019. The system will use an open cable two fiber pair desgin, providing consortium members with spectrum ownership and giving them the ability to independently adopt technology advancements and upgrades as required.
“With internet data consumption growing by 70% in Asia last year alone these sorts of investments in international networks are critical for meeting the needs of connected consumers and businesses,” Telstra group MD for global services and international David Burns said.
“The construction of INDIGO is timely to meet the rising demand for high-speed broadband between Asia and Australia. This cable system complements our global connectivity that links Asia, the US, Europe, Australia and the Middle East,” Singtel Enterprise VP for carrier services Ooi Seng Keat added.
Superloop has inherited its membership in the INDIGO consortium via the recent acquisition of subsea cable operator SubPartners for $2.5 million. As part of the acquisition Superloop has provided a guarantee involving the meeting of SubPartners’ construction capex costs for the project.