Huawei, Global Marine and ASSC-1 team up for submarine 6.4 Tbps Perth to Singapore link

Australian submarine cable developer ASSC-1 Communications Group has announced the development of a new Perth to Singapore submarine cable system. The project is a result of a partnership involving Huawei Technologies, Global Marine Systems and ASSC-1 Communications.

ASSC-1 will deploy a four-fibre pair cable system spanning a distance of 4600 kilometres.

The system will have an initial design capacity of 6.4 terabits per second (Tbps), to be delivered through 40 gigabits per second (Gbps) technology.

The system will comprise three express fibre pairs between Perth and Singapore and one omnibus fibre pair between Perth, Jakarta and Singapore.

Telstra, the first international carrier to commit to the new cable, has agreed to purchase one of the 4 fibre pairs from ASSC-1’s fibre optic submarine cable and will also provide landing party services in Perth.

James Chen, CEO for ASSC-1, said: “ASSC-1 will dramatically increase the capacity for internet and data traffic between Australia, particularly the west coast, Asia and Europe and we expect it to take up excess demand from the only existing cable on this route, which is the ageing SEAMEWE3 system.”

“In addition, we expect to provide increased diversity for traffic from Asia to the US via Australia,” he said.

Huawei Marine Networks, a joint venture between Huawei Technologies and Global Marine Systems, will supply and install the ASSC-1 system. Matrix Cable Systems will supply the Jakarta landing through its own cable landing station and will also work with ASSC-1 to manage the Indonesian permit process.

The “carrier neutral” cable system will be suitable for domestic and international carriage demands; it will provide access to partners and customers including tier 1 carriers, ISPs and secondary service providers.

The project will begin construction in the first quarter of 2012 and is expected to be completed within 2013, based on current project timelines.