Telstra, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and Montreal?s Teleglobe have opened what they say is the first 44.736-Mbit/sec (T3) Internet backbone link combining fiber-optic cable and satellite links. The connection uses Telstra?s existing undersea fiber-optic cable on the inbound route to the United States. A 45-Mbit/sec satellite link provides the return link to Australia. The simplex satellite solution is expected to result in lower prices for carriers outside the United States, that formerly had to purchase two-way submarine cable circuits with equal bandwidth on the inbound and outbound directions, even though traffic from the United States is greater than that to the United States.