Direct submarine cable links critical for Australias growth

Direct submarine cable links critical for Australia`s growth

By PAUL MORTENSEN

Australia may need to be more proactive in developing high-capacity, low-cost bandwidth links to its global markets, according to the participants at a recent forum on telecommunications. While existing cables such as PacRim East, PacRim West, and Jasuraus (see Lightwave, August 1997, page 15) have adequate capacity to meet expected demands, they do not extend to Australia`s major markets. PacRim West, for example, terminates in Guam, PacRim East in Hawaii, and Jasuraus in Jakarta, Indonesia.

According to results of a forum convened by Melbourne-based independent think-tank Center for International Research on Communication and Information Technologies, the Australian government and telecommunications companies should focus on increasing the country`s bandwidth to North America, Europe, Japan, and Southeast Asia. Each of these areas should have links of 20 to 50 Gbits/sec, according to forum participants. This will benefit the nation`s information and communications sector, including finance, retail, government, health, and education services, by increasing their global market opportunities.

Despite the urgings of the forum, however, the situation may be far from critical. For example, Telstra and Optus--the two main telecommunications providers in Australia--are aware of the increasing demands created by Internet and broadband services and are evaluating their involvement in existing and planned cable systems. Despite the forum`s call for additional fiber-optic links, however, these two companies have thus far seen little sign of any customer demand for massive bandwidth.

At present, Telstra`s largest customers buy multiple (up to 10) 2-Mbit/sec links. Telstra currently owns 7% to 8% of capacity on TPC4 (which connects Japan to the West Coast of the United States). It also owns about 2.5% of the capacity on TPC5, which is a pan-Pacific ring joining Japan, the United States and Guam; in Guam, TPC5 connects with PacRim West and PacRim East. Even though about 60% of the capacity of TPC5 is now allocated, Telstra notes that it can acquire additional capacity when needed. TPC is an optically amplified cable, allowing the possibility of doubling capacity on some sections using wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM).

More on the way

Meanwhile, to cope with future capacity to the United States, a new submarine link has been proposed. The $1.2-billion Southern Cross Cable System will connect San Diego, CA; Hawaii; Auckland, New Zealand; and Sydney. Extending 30,000 km, it will use a 2-fiber pair and WDM (8 ¥ 2.5 Gbits/sec on each fiber) and is expected to be completed in 1999 (see figure). Project sponsors include Optus, Telecom New Zealand, and WorldCom of the United States.

Southern Cross will likely be a future project of Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN, Sydney)--currently one of Australia`s largest exporters of high-tech manufactured equipment. The company operates submarine cable manufacturing facilities on the deep-sea harbor of Port Botany in Sydney.

The company`s site was chosen to provide easy access for the cable-laying ships. The short transport distance--less than 100 m from factory to ship--eliminates the need for costly ground transportation. In fact, cable is produced and stored in the facility`s holding tanks and loaded via a gantry directly aboard ship. Alcatel`s factory is on five hectares of land, employs about 200 people, and has the capacity to manufacture about 7000 km of cable each year. Since 1987, ASN Australia has received more than A$1 billion in orders, manufacturing and installing 26,000 km for 11 systems worldwide.

These networks include the PacRim West system, which links Sydney to Guam. PacRim West holds the record as the world`s longest and deepest undersea link to be laid in one voyage--7080 km, including 53 repeaters and weighing 6755 tons. The system was laid across the Mariana Trench near Guam and posed a significant engineering challenge, as the cable fell to a depth of almost 9 km. It posed a challenge for the insurance company as well--how to develop an insurance algorithm for a cable worth (onboard) hundreds of millions of dollars in Sydney but nothing in Guam.

A future project that will not provide a direct link from Australia but might involve the manufacturing capabilities of ASN Australia is the China-U.S. Transpacific Network, which will connect Guam, Hawaii, and Shanghai, with extensions to Japan and Korea. It has an estimated cost of A$1.5 billion to the main participants--China Telecom, AT&T, and Kokusai Denshin Denwa (Tokyo). The 31,500-km system will have a 2- or 3-fiber pair and use WDM (8 ¥ 2.5 Gbits/sec). The expected finishing date is about 2000. q

Paul Mortensen writes from Australia.