The fiber capacity of the submarine cable system connecting Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, known as SMAP, will be upgraded from a 12-fiber pair system to a 16-fiber pair system, according to SUBCO. The $400 million upgrade promises to bring an increase of 33 percent to total system capacity.
“This increased investment in capacity is to ensure we are able to support Australia’s digital infrastructure needs both now, and in the future,” SUBCO Co-CEO Bevan Slattery said. “AI and Cloud are driving the accelerating expansion of hyperscale data centers throughout the region, which is driving an increase in demand for hyperscale connectivity.”
The submarine cable upgrade will provide for an additional 100 terabits per second between Melbourne and Perth and 120 terabits per second between Sydney and Melbourne. The SMAP cable is on track for provisional acceptance in December, 2025.
On June 19, ground was broken on the new SMAP Cable in Adelaide as SUBCO moved into the construction stage of the 3,106 mile subsea transcontinental cable. In August 2023, SUBCO announced that it was ready to begin construction on DMSP transcontinental submarine cable, which was built by Alcatel Submarine Networks and installed by Optic Marine Systems. It was also the first stage of construction of HyperOne, Australia’s first national fiber backhaul network.
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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