AARnet and Southern Cross Cable extend partnership

Southern Cross Cable Networks (SCCN) has given Australia’s research and scientific community a boost by extending its sponsorship agreement with AARNet, Australia’s Academic and Research Network for the Southern Cross Trans-Pacific Optical Research Test bed (SXTransPORT).

Under this agreement, the SXTransPORT will continue to provide dual 10 Gbps capacity circuits sponsored by SCCN to connect AARNet to National Research and Education Networks in North America for scientific, research and education traffic through until 2020. The SXTransPORT is an integral high-capacity connection as it connects AARNet to research and education networks around the world.

Mary Fleming, Business Development Director of AARNet, said, “The SXTransPORT has provided Australian researchers and scientists an unprecedented opportunity to collaborate in areas such as astronomy and science that have been of great significance to Australia and the international community. Some of these collaborative efforts simply would not have been possible without the SXTransPORT and the assistance of Southern Cross Cable Networks and we are so pleased to be able to assure its continuation for the next decade.”

Ross Pfeffer, Director of Sales and Marketing at the SCCN, said, “SXTransPORT has placed Australia at the forefront of the world’s research and education by providing a high bandwidth corridor connecting Australia to the United States and the rest of the world. The Southern Cross Cable Networks is proud to be supporting Australia’s scientific and research endeavours.”

Connecting Australia to the United States on the SXTransPORT ensures Australia can continue to play an integral role in collaborating with other research and education networks around the world in major research programs such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and the Large Hadron Collider.

Professor Geoffrey Taylor of the School of Physics at The University of Melbourne and leader of the Australian effort at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider said, “The University of Melbourne is actively involved in the Large Hadron Collider program and the 10 Gbps access point that connects us to AARNet and the SXTransPORT facilitates our collaboration with scientists and researchers in the United States, Asia and Europe allowing very large amounts of data to be transferred for analysis quickly.”

Fleming added, “AARNet is committed to developing one of the most advanced national research and education networks anywhere in the world, placing Australia on the forefront of the world’s research and scientific programs. We will continue to invest in our network to ensure there are no technological or cost barriers to our members who are constantly seeking to further Australia’s reputation in the world’s research community.”

The first agreement for the SXTransPORT was signed between AARNet and SCCN on 31 December 2003.