Australia - Telecommunications Infrastructure International Networks

Synopsis

Australia’s telecommunications infrastructure is advanced and extensive, spanning the large island continent and extending across the Tasman and into Asia. It is these international developments, including backbones across the Tasman Sea and to Asia and the USA, both undersea cable and satellite based, that this report covers. In October 2008, Telstra and technology partner Alcatel-Lucent launched the Sydney end of a 9,000 km cable to Hawaii, which will eventually compete against rivals Southern Cross (currently performing capacity upgrades), Pipe Networks (which announced a second cable to New Zealand in April 2008), Australia-Japan Cable (completing upgrades in April 2008) and the potential for a new cable connection between Western Australia to Asia. In September 2007 Southern Cross Cable Network announced it would double capacity connecting Australia, New Zealand with the US by late 2008.

Table of Contents

• 1. Synopsis
  
• 2. International cable links
  
  • 2.1 Sydney to Hawaii Cable – Telstra and Alcatel-Lucent
    
  • 2.2 Pipe Networks
    
    • 2.2.1 PPC-1 cable from Sydney to Guam
      
    • 2.2.2 Cable to New Zealand with Kordia – PPC-2
      
  • 2.3 Southern Cross Cable Network
    
    • 2.3.1 Network overview
      
    • 2.3.2 Network upgrade
      
  • 2.4 Southern Cross to double capacity
    
  • 2.5 Telstra, Optus and AAPT activities
    
• 3. Recent developments
  
  • 3.1 Google questions Australia’s lack of international bandwidth
    
  • 3.2 Google planning new Pacific Unity undersea cable
    
• 4. Other projects
  
  • 4.1 WA based Ochre – cable projects
    
  • 4.2 Australia Japan Cable (AJC)
    
  • 4.3 Asia Pacific Cable Network (APCN)
    
• 5. Regulatory developments
  
  • 5.1 New permits for submarine cables
    
• 6. Satellite services
  
  • 6.1 Optus satellite network
    
  • 6.2 Intelsat and Inmarsat
    
  • 6.3 Xantic
    
  • 6.4 CapRock Communications
    
• 7. Related reports
  

• Exhibit 1 – Telstra submarine projects
• Exhibit 2 – AAPT international network
• Exhibit 3 - The AJC system has six landing points:
• Exhibit 4 – The Optus satellite network