Credit: Southern Cross Cables
The launch of a new submarine cable by Southern Cross Cables is expanding New Zealand’s international connectivity by nearly 100 per cent.
The Southern Cross NEXT fibre cable (SX NEXT), delivered by Alcatel Submarine Networks, created the largest submarine network connecting New Zealand, Australasia to the US, the company said.
The cable will boost the capacity of New Zealand’s global connectivity, carrying an additional 72 Tbit/s of data, effectively doubling New Zealand’s direct international connectivity to the USA.
The cable is intended to meet rising demand for hyperscale bandwidth driven by cloud adoption and digitisation.
The 15,840km cable, running from Sydney to Los Angeles with links to Auckland, Fiji, Tokelau, and Kiribati, becomes the third route in the Southern Cross network eco-system between Australasia and the USA, and has taken just over two years to complete.
It was originally due to go live around the end of 2021, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Not only is SX NEXT the first of the replacement cables for our existing systems when they retire in 2030, it also completes the trifecta for us," Southern Cross Cables CEO Laurie Miller said.
That is because Southern Cross was the provider of the lowest latency routes between Sydney and Auckland, along with Auckland to Los Angeles, and would now add the lowest latency route between Sydney and Los Angeles to its portfolio.
“The cable will also be a game changer for the people and industries of Tokelau and Kiribati as it will provide the first direct fibre optic cable link to New Zealand,” Miller said.
Southern Cross in collaboration with network equipment supplier Ciena was able to successfully commission and test the services error-free as part of the cable commissioning process, paving the way for the introduction of 400GbE services between Sydney, Auckland and Los Angeles.
Southern Cross NEXT uses Ciena’s GeoMesh Extreme coherent optical technology, to mesh the new system into the current Southern Cross network fabric. Ciena’s WL5e technology also helps deliver a sustainable upgrade path by reducing power costs and inefficiencies by more than 600 per cent per bit.
Jolie Hodson, CEO at Spark, a founding shareholder of Southern Cross Cables, said the new cable delivered more diverse and resilient international connectivity with lower latency than ever and massive bandwidth to take New Zealand into the future.
“The SX NEXT will improve resilience and boost international connectivity between on and offshore data centres, delivering the high capacity and low latency services so many customers need to power their businesses and operations," Hodson said.
"We’re excited to be able to offer this additional capacity to our wholesale customers and see this investment as an important enabler of the growth of emerging technologies like 5G and IoT.”
