Telstra unveils two new subsea cable investments
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Telstra unveils two new subsea cable investments

Telstra has struck agreements to invest in two new subsea cables, boosting its connectivity options between Hong Kong and the United States.

The Australian carrier said it will invest in a half fibre pair on the new Hong Kong Americas cable that links Hong Kong with the US. It will also invest in the equivalent of 6Tbps capacity on the Pacific Light Cable Network which also links Hong Kong and the US.

PLCN, which is backed by the likes of Facebook and Google, will stretch 8,000 miles from Los Angeles to Hong Kong with an estimated capacity of 120 terabits-per-second. It is due to be completed in 2019.

Telstra claims the two cables will deliver lower latency due to being more direct routes between the US and Asia than the current Asia-America Gateway (AAG) on which it currently operates the most active capacity.

“As economic growth continues in China and South East Asia, so too does the demand for data. Together with the current AAG cable on which Telstra carries the most traffic today, these two investments will provide us with increased capacity across the important Hong Kong to US route, one of the fastest growing routes in the world for capacity demand,” said David Burns, Telstra’s group managing director of global services and international.

Our investment in capacity on PLCN and HKA will also provide our customers with greater resiliency due to bypassing areas prone to natural disasters and offering two direct, alternative paths to the AAG cable which connects South East Asia to the US west coast via Hong Kong, Guam and Hawaii.” 

“We will continue to invest to maintain our network leadership and support our international growth. This includes a commitment to investing in additional capacity on the Australia to US route.”

It is the latest subsea announcement from Telstra, which is also a member of the INDIGO consortium, which plans to build a cable linking Australia to South East Asia.

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