Southern Cross NEXT submarine cable reaches NZ

Independent submarine capacity provider Southern Cross Cables (Southern Cross) and Spark NZ, which looks after its cable assets in New Zealand, have landed the New Zealand segment of a new high-capacity cable originating at Takapuna Beach. The Southern Cross NEXT cable (SX NEXT) will expand the capacity of New Zealand’s global connectivity, carrying an additional 72 terabits of data per second in and out of the country. This increase represents an almost 100% increase in New Zealand’s international connectivity from current total market capability and is equivalent to streaming more than 4.5 million Ultra HD 4K videos simultaneously.

SX NEXT will form a third route in the Southern Cross cable ecosystem, connecting New Zealand with Australia, Fiji and the United States. Southern Cross currently provides the lowest-latency links between Auckland, Los Angeles and Sydney, and the addition of the SX NEXT route will further enhance the capability of these routes for New Zealand business and industry. The SX NEXT system will also make a change in connectivity for the communities and industries of Tokelau and Kiribati, providing high-capacity fibre links to New Zealand, Australia, the US and Fiji.

The Hon Dr David Clark, Minister for Digital Economy and Communications for New Zealand, said the additional capacity of SX NEXT is pivotal in driving partnerships and innovation.

“Being geographically isolated like we are in New Zealand means there’s never been a greater need to invest in our technology infrastructure and grow our global digital connectedness. Technology like this is critical for New Zealand to form stronger international partnerships that unlock valuable data volumes and drive innovation forward,” said Dr Clark.

Southern Cross CEO Laurie Miller said the NX NEXT cable, once completed early next year, will enhance Southern Cross’s fully diverse network ecosystem and help provide more solutions for a growing technologically competent audience. Miller added that the Southern Cross network represents a critical connectivity platform for New Zealand and Australasia.

“The completion of NEXT will interconnect New Zealand to the world via an ecosystem of 12 cable stations and eight key data-centre hubs in Australia and the USA, spanning six countries and eight time zones all interconnected by over 45,000 km of cable. That’s more cable mileage than the circumference of the Earth, and enough to traverse the length of New Zealand over 28 times,” said Miller.

Jolie Hodson, CEO of Spark, a founding shareholder of Southern Cross, said the SX NEXT cable is a critical piece of infrastructure that will support the growth of technologies like 5G and IoT (Internet of Things), which have the potential to transform sectors such as utilities, manufacturing and cities — boosting productivity.

To meet ever-growing customer data requirements, Southern Cross has invested more than US$1.5bn in its existing network over the last 20 years, and the SX NEXT project is a continuation of its commitment to providing world-class quality, secure and diverse solutions well into the future.

The SX NEXT project represents the first step in commissioning of the replacement cables by 2030, when the existing systems are planned for retirement.

Image credit: Southern Cross Cables.