Telstra expanding APAC subsea cable capacity

Telstra is expanding the capacity of its extensive subsea cable network in Asia–Pacific to meet rapidly growing demand for bandwidth in the region.

The operator has announced two new investments on the Japan to US subsea cable route, including the first large capacity purchase on the new-generation New Cross Pacific cable linking China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and the US.

Telstra meanwhile announced a further investment in the FASTER cable system, which launched in 2016 and runs between Japan and the US via Taiwan.

Last year, Telstra also arranged to purchase a 25% stake in Southern Cross Cable Network, the consortium operating the existing Southern Cross Cable ring network spanning Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii and the US mainland, as well as the upcoming Southern Cross NEXT, which will connect Sydney, Auckland and Los Angeles.

Telstra also made a half fibre pair investment in the Hong Kong Americas cable and purchased 6 Tbps of capacity on the Pacific Light Cable Networks cable.

The operator has previously revealed that demand for capacity over its subsea cable network is increasing by around 30% every year.

As part of its efforts to meet this demand, Telstra last week also announced a new rapid restoration service on three of its busiest subsea cable routes in Asia–Pacific that promises to reduce the time it takes to restore services following a cable fault to under 30 minutes by providing an alternative route.

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