The Southern Cross undersea cable network that supports most broadband users in Australia and New Zealand is about to double installed capacity, enhance network resilience and increase service flexibility.
Southern Cross Cables has selected Alcatel-Lucent’s optical technologies as part of a contract signed to upgrade the submarine cable network with the latest generation of transmission equipment. Additional capacity will be available beginning January 2008.
The two Southern Cross submarine communications cables were first commissioned in November 2000 and January 2001 at a cost of USD1.3 billion. They provide Australasian broadband users with international connections to the US West coast where global Internet hubs are located.
Southern Cross Director of Operations, Dean Veverka, said “.Each cable is currently equipped at 240 Gbps and the current upgrade will increase each cable’s capacity in two stages, to 330 Gbps by the first quarter of 2008 and to 430Gbs by the fourth quarter of 2008. So our total capacity will be 860Gbps by Q4 2008.”
Veverka said “The network has already been carefully prepared to ensure customer service is not interrupted when the installation begins in September. The upgrade only involves the replacement of transmission equipment located in each of our 10 cable stations and the new equipment can deliver 400 Gbps per fiber pair; a tenfold increase over the equipment we are replacing.” There is no need to replace any of the 28,500 kilometers of undersea cable or to upgrade any of the 500 undersea repeaters that regenerate optical transmission signals.
“We must continue to provide the highest levels of reliability to the emerging high speed broadband market so as part of the upgrade we will further enhance our network’s resilience and improve our product flexibility” Veverka said. “The new transmission equipment will support a wider range of transmission products including SONET and Gigabit Ethernet interfaces that are more suited to ISP’s with large broadband subscriber bases. To augment the restoration that our two cable network already offers we will also be installing equipment in our 2,300 kilometers US terrestrial network that will provide automated loop restoration in the event of terrestrial outages.
Southern Cross Director of Sales and Marketing Ross Pfeffer said “Recent and rapid adoption of ADSL2+ in Australia and the growth in broadband users in both Australia and New Zealand has been accompanied by higher data entitlements for many residential subscribers. The consequent demand for our capacity has been extremely high so our latest upgrade is just in time.”
Pfeffer said “Total installed capacity on the two Southern Cross cables was only 80 Gbps in 2001. By January 2003 we had expanded to 480 Gbps and by end-2008 total installed capacity will be 860 Gbps. With high speed broadband in its infancy we expect Southern Cross will need to get much larger during its 25 year life cycle and this can be readily achieved by replacing more land based equipment. If we do this for all fiber pairs using current technology we can take the total network to 2.4Tbps of transmission capability. But technology is continually increasing transmission speed so the potential size of the Southern Cross Cable Network will ultimately be very much higher” Pfeffer said.
With the upgrade contract signed Southern Cross is now reassessing the commercial requirements of the changing Australasian capacity market. “We will continue to be the preferred network supplier in our market, we will encourage high speed broadband and we will continue to provide the highest levels of network reliability and customer service.” said Pfeffer. In combination with the natural Southern Cross advantages of lowest latency, inbuilt cable diversity and abundant capacity supply, Pfeffer is confident that the latest upgrade will continue to offer big advantages to Southern Cross customers.
The shareholders of Southern Cross made the original US$1.3 billion capital investment back in the late 1990’s to support the needs of the Australasian Internet and continued to support the business through times of significant uncertainty. Its network has now become the international backbone for Australasian broadband growth. The cost of the upgrade will be met from the company’s cash reserves.
“Alcatel-Lucent’s commitment is assisting its customers to best serve their end-users,” said Jean Godeluck, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s submarine network activity. “With this upgrade, we are offering Southern Cross the additional network functionality and flexibility they require to easily address the increased broadband traffic needs driven by new high-bandwidth services and applications.”
About Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) provides solutions that enable service providers, enterprises and governments worldwide, to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. As a leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP technologies, applications, and services, Alcatel-Lucent offers the end-to-end solutions that enable compelling communications services for people at home, at work and on the move. With operations in more than 130 countries, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach. The company has the most experienced global services team in the industry, and one of the largest research, technology and innovation organizations in the telecommunications industry. Alcatel-Lucent achieved adjusted proforma revenues of Euro 18.3 billion in 2006 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. [All figures exclude impact of activities transferred to Thales]. For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on the Internet: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com
About Southern Cross
Southern Cross Cable Network provides the fastest, most direct, and most secure international bandwidth from Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii to the heart of the Internet in the USA. Commissioned in 2000 and 2001 as two diverse submarine cables to the US the Southern Cross Network has been engineered until 2025 to provide for the rapidly expanding capacity needs of high speed broadband. In 2001 total installed capacity was 80 Gbps, in January 2003 the total network was expanded to 480 Gbps and by end-2008 total installed capacity will be 860 Gbps. Southern Cross can easily expand to 2.4Tbps of transmission capability by installing more of the equipment that is being used for its current capacity upgrade. With new technology continually improving potential transmission speeds, the ultimate size of the Southern Cross Cable Network is likely to considerably exceed 2.4 Tbps. Southern Cross Cable Network is owned by Telecom NZ (50%), Singtel-Optus (40%) and Verizon Business (10%). The company has offices in Bermuda, Sydney, Auckland and Wellington. For more information visit Southern Cross at: http://www.southerncrosscables.com
Rosemay Foot
Media Manager
Southern Cross Cable Network
Tel: +64 4 496 3250
Click here to email Rosemay
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