Kevin Russell (Vocus Group)
Vocus has landed a A$100 million deal to build a submarine cable connection between the Northern Territory and Southeast Asia.
The new 1,000km cable will link the Australia Singapore Cable (ASC) to the North West Cable System (NWCS) in Port Hedland, Western Australia, thereby providing the final piece of the Darwin-Jakarta-Singapore Cable (DJSC).
The DJSC will interconnect with the 4,600km ASC between Perth and Singapore and the 2,100km NWCS between Port Hedland and Darwin, with the completed system expected to be online by mid-2023.
Vocus claimed it has begun discussions with potential customers in the mining, oil and gas sectors, as well as government and major international over-the-top (OTT) service providers.
The contract marks one of Vocus’ first major forays into the private sector following its A$3.5 billion acquisition by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) and its ensuing exit from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
The move also marks a significant step in Vocus’ efforts to build out its fibre infrastructure footprint. The telco is also working with the NT Government in the ‘Terabit Territory’, which will see Vocus deploy 200Gbps (Gigabits per second, per wavelength) technology on its domestic fibre network into Darwin.
The launch of the DJSC follows the recent announcement of Project Horizon, the first competitive fibre backbone between Perth and Port Hedland and onto Darwin.
Vocus is currently in discussions with potential infrastructure partners and customers and is targeting the completion of the project in the same timeframe as the DJSC.
“Vocus is delivering the four largest telecommunications network projects in northern Australia, cementing our position as the leading fibre infrastructure investor in Australia today,” said Vocus Group managing director and CEO Kevin Russell.
