Southern Cross is one of a number of international submarine cable networks which will be likely to benefit from Australian Government plans to introduce a new cable protection regime for cables installed in Australian waters.
The Australian Federal Government has allocated AU$1.5 million to the Australian Communications Authority (ACA) over the next four years to implement a new regime of cable protection zones, which will aim to protect submarine cables considered to be of national importance in linking Australia to the rest of the world.
The cable protection zones would be similar to those which have already been introduced in some other parts of the world and which have been developed to prohibit external aggression activities such as anchoring or trawling, which can cause damage to submarine cables installed in shallow water.
Southern Cross has two cables, Segment A and Segment G2, which operate in Australian waters and which terminate along the Sydney coastline and Southern Cross will be seeking to have these cables included in the new protection zones.
The two cables are currently monitored by patrol boats under a cable surveillance regime which is managed in coordination with other cable owners operating in the area. While the current cable surveillance has been very successful, the introduction of the new Federal cable protection regime will be welcomed because it will establish the legislation necessary to increase this protection further and at the same time will allow a reduction in the amount of surveillance undertaken by the patrol boats, thereby reducing O&M costs.
Southern Cross has already been involved in consultation regarding the proposed cable zones and is planning to provide further input into the development of the zones once the appropriate legislation has been enacted by the Australian Federal Government, which is likely to proceed later this year.
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