Southern Cross and Alcatel Submarine Networks Sign NEXT Supply Contract, Signalling Start of Manufacturing Phase
Southern Cross Cable Limited Press Release
April 7, 2019
Southern Cross NEXT Project to be completed in 2021 and will connect Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tokelau, Kiribati and the United States
Sydney, Australia – Southern Cross Cable Limited (SX) and Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) have signed a contract for ASN to supply the Southern Cross NEXT submarine cable, based on an Open Cable architecture. Subject to financial closure, the contract execution ensures the manufacturing and construction phase will commence.
The US$350 million Southern Cross NEXT project will provide an additional 72 terabits per second of capacity for Southern Cross customers, adding to the existing 20 terabits of capacity potential of the current Southern Cross systems. Southern Cross NEXT will be the largest capacity, lowest latency link between the U.S. West coast and Sydney and Auckland, providing Australia and New Zealand, the largest capacity markets in the South Pacific region, with a powerful solution.
It will also provide key interconnecting infrastructure for the South Pacific, providing a reliable direct information pipeline to connect those participating nations – Fiji, Tokelau and Kiribati – to the world, and greater options to the existing cables from Vanuatu, Samoa and Tonga connecting to Southern Cross today in Fiji.
Leveraging ASN’s state-of-the-art subsea technology, the solution is designed to provide enhanced reliability and network efficiency, as well as providing the lowest latency connection between major data centres in Sydney or Auckland and Los Angeles. The solution includes ASN’s submarine WSS ROADM units, the latest generation of repeaters and will offer high performance and powering resilience, enabling over 72 terabits per second transmission capacity. The Open Cable system is also designed to be compatible with future generations of submarine line terminal equipped with Probabilistic Shaping technology.
Laurie Miller, President and CEO of Southern Cross Cables, said the contract is an important milestone for the project which will be completed in 2021.
“Since the initial phases in 2016, interest in the project has grown significantly,” he said. “The Southern Cross team has worked tirelessly alongside ASN to design a high capacity system on the optimum marine route between Sydney and Los Angeles, and this contract shows that the hard work has paid off.”
The Southern Cross NEXT submarine cable is a state-of-the-art 4 fibre pair undersea route utilising an open cable design and enhancing the existing Southern Cross eco-system. The system will also provide full fibre connectivity to Auckland, New Zealand, and will incorporate Branching Units (BU) and OADM technology for connections to Fiji, Tokelau and Kiribati.
“A number of critical milestones have already been achieved prior to contract signing, with the Marine Survey completed in 2017, the completion of the Sydney BMH and bore landing facilities in 2018, along with landing arrangements in Los Angeles, and Auckland,” said Miller. “These milestones and the efforts of the SX and ASN teams have us on track to target completion of the system in the second half of 2021.”
As the system commences implementation and ultimately operational phases, Southern Cross will continue to focus on its primary objective of providing world class leading products and solutions to its customers on a Carrier Neutral and Open Access basis.
Meet Southern Cross at SubOptic 2019:
Southern Cross Cables is attending SubOptic 2019. If you would like to meet, contact:
Laurie Miller, President & CEO: [email protected]
Dean Veverka, Director Networks: [email protected]
Gwenn Nedelec, Project Director, Southern Cross NEXT: [email protected]
About Southern Cross
Southern Cross Cable Network (SCCN) provides fast, direct, and secure international bandwidth from Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii to the heart of the Internet in the USA.
The Southern Cross Cable Network comprises two submarine communications cables which were first commissioned in November 2000 and January 2001 and provide Australasian broadband users with international connections to the US West coast where global Internet hubs are located. The Southern Cross NEXT project will add a third route to the Southern Cross eco-system providing a high capacity link between Australia, New Zealand and the United States, and interconnecting to Fiji, Tokelau and Kiribati. The Southern Cross NEXT project is scheduled for completion by end 2021.
The Southern Cross Cable Network is currently owned by Spark NZ (50%), Singtel/Optus (40%) and Verizon Business (10%). In December 2018, Southern Cross Cable Network (SCCN) and its shareholders, Spark New Zealand, Singtel/Optus and Verizon Business, announced that Telstra has entered into agreed terms to purchase a 25 per cent stake in SCCN subject to definitive documentation and relevant regulatory approvals.
Southern Cross Cable Network has offices in Bermuda, Sydney, Auckland and Wellington. For more information visit Southern Cross at http://www.southerncrosscables.com
SCCN Press Contacts
Rosemay Foot: [email protected] T: +64 4 496 3250