Southern Cross Cable
Equinix and Southern Cross Cables have extended their ongoing agreement to link Australia and New Zealand to the United States via a subsea cable.
The two companies plan to reduce latency and boost trans-Pacific connectivity via the SX Next cable and Equinix’s data centres.
According to Equinix, the SX NEXT cable boosts the aggregate capacity of Southern Cross’ existing trans-Pacific ecosystem by approximately 500 per cent.
Southern Cross also utilises Platform Equinix to provide on-ramps to the Southern Cross network ecosystem at SY1 and SY5 Sydney data centres, as well as SV1 and SV8 in Silicon Valley, and LA1 in Los Angeles.
“We place high value on working with an industry leader that not only has a significant global presence but understands the intricacies of business in the Pacific region,” said Craige Sloots, director of marketing and strategy at Southern Cross.
“Equinix’s deep industry knowledge and robust digital ecosystems – where businesses come together to exchange data, unlock collaboration opportunities, and form new markets – enables us to provide innovative technology and network solutions to minimise latency and improve performance for our customers.
"Trans-Pacific subsea connectivity will continue to be a key enabler in the region for many years to come, and we’re excited about this next phase of interconnection through our work with Equinix.”
According to Equinix, the need for additional capacity between Australia and the US is driven by increased demand for cloud services, content and digital media, and e-commerce capabilities.
An annual market study published by Equinix found that global interconnection bandwidth—the measure of private connectivity for the transfer of data between organisations—is forecast to reach 27,762 terabits per second (Tbps) by 2025, representing a five-year CAGR of 40 per cent.
The trans-Pacific demand has grown at a CAGR of 41 per cent over the past five years—significantly more than the 26 per cent CAGR of internet backbone providers, Equinix also claimed.
“As bandwidth reaches unprecedented levels, the volume of subsea cable construction has reached its highest point in the 165-year history of this medium,” said Jim Poole, vice president of business development at Equinix.
“Major projects are bringing new capacity into emerging and high-growth markets such as Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. And in well-established subsea cable corridors – including the Pacific – there’s new construction to keep up with the growing demand.
"By supplementing existing trans-Pacific routes, the Southern Cross Next cable provides seamless and accelerated interconnection across Platform Equinix, in turn, boosting the digital economy in those regions.”
