New subsea cable starts its journey in Sydney

The Japan-Guam-Australia South subsea cable system (JGA South) has reached a milestone with the landing of the cable into Narrabeen Beach in Sydney, marking the completion by AARNet of the Sydney shore end work.

Alcatel Submarine Cable Networks (ASN)’s cable ship, the Ile de Brehat, will now begin laying the cable north towards Guam, with the completion of JGA South on track to be completed and ready for service by March 2020.

JGA South will complement the recently completed INDIGO cable system forming a ring between Australia and the North and South East Asian markets.

Using coherent optical technology, JGA South’s two-fibre pairs will support up to 36 terabits per second.

In addition, JGA South will use ASN’s spectrum-sharing technology where each consortium member can independently take advantage of technology advancements for future upgrades and capacity increases on demand.

“This is an exciting time for AARNet. INDIGO was the first in a number of significant investments for research and education in Australia,” said AARNet CEO Chris Hancock.

“JGA South is our second, and equally important, investment to meet the future growth in collaborative research and transnational education between Australia and our important partners in Asia.”

Image courtesy AARNet.