First, the Australia-Singapore Cable (ASC) is a 4,600-kilometer submarine cable system that connects Perth, Australia, to Singapore via Jakarta, Indonesia, and Christmas Island, offering Western Australia's first 100Gbps high-speed connection to Southeast Asia.
The ASC cable system is made up of four fiber pairs that use 100*100Gbps DWDM technology for a total system capacity of 40Tbps, which may be upgraded to 60Tbps. Alcatel Submarine Network provides the ASC system (ASN).
Nextgen Networks and Vocus together established the Australia Singapore Cable (ASC) project, which is a 50/50 joint venture.
Vocus Communications completed the acquisition of Nextgen Networks in April 2017 and now owns 100% of the ASC.
XL Axiata, an Indonesian telecommunications company, is ASC's landing partner in Jakarta and Christmas Island. For ASC's Singapore landing, Australia-Singapore Cable (Singapore) Pte Ltd holds a Facilities-Based Operations (FBO) license. The cable is landed at Shenton Park Cable Landing Station in Perth by Vocus (Shenton Park CLS, also known as Equinix PE2).
Aside from that, Indonesian telecom Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison and independent cable builder and operator Inligo Networks have signed an agreement to develop an 18,000-kilometer submarine cable connecting Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, Japan, and the United States.
The Networks Asia Connect Cable System (ACC-1) will have a capacity of 240 terabits per second, with 40 fibers transmitting 40 frequencies each.
Its intended itinerary will pass through five Indonesian cities, including Batam, Singapore, Darwin, Timor Leste, and Tokyo, before ending in Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon, with a layover on the US-controlled island of Guam.
Hutchison and Ooredoo announced plans to merge their companies in 2020.
The united corporation has demonstrated the benefits of its combined might: the ability to devote hundreds of millions of dollars to this underwater cable, as well as a strategy to use it for consumer and corporate connectivity.
Those services are likely to aid the company in gaining market share as it competes with PT Telkom, the current market leader.
Indonesia's government is all-in on digital, with communications minister Johnny Plate recently expressing his aim for the country to become a regional hub for underwater cables.
Johnny Plate got what he wanted. Australia did as well, with governments at all levels aiming to connect Darwin to the rest of the world.
Inligo is constructing a terrestrial network connecting the rest of Australia to Darwin, claiming that once ACC-1 and the trans-Australia link are both operational, the connection will provide Australia's lowest-latency connection to Southeast Asia.
And the cable's construction is planned to begin this year, with full operation projected in 2024.
Source: Submarinenetworks.com, Theregister.com
