AARNet, Google, Indosat Ooredoo, Singtel, SubPartners, and Telstra, Wednesday announced they have entered into an agreement with Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) to build a new international subsea cable system.
Once completed, the INDIGO cable system (previously known as APX West & Central) will strengthen links between Australia and the fast-growing South East Asian markets, providing faster connection speed and enhanced reliability.
The INDIGO cable system will span approximately 9,000 km and connect Singapore and Perth, and onwards to Sydney. Landing in existing facilities in Singapore, Australia and Indonesia, the system will also allow connections between Singapore and Jakarta.
The system will use a two-fibre pair ‘open cable’ design with spectrum- sharing technology. This allows consortium members to share ownership of spectrum within the cable, giving them the ability to independently take advantage of technology advancements and future upgrades as required.
Using coherent optical technology, which uses light to transmit data along fibre optic cables, each of the two-fibre pairs will have a minimum capacity of 18 terabits per second, with the option to increase this capacity in the future. This effectively means that INDIGO will be able to transmit an equivalent of 7.2 million high definition online movies simultaneously from Singapore to Sydney. ASN will construct the cable, which is expected to be completed by mid-2019.
Alexander Rusli, President Director and CEO, Indosat Ooredoo
Together, we will enable world-class data connectivity and internet access in line with our vision as Indonesia's leading digital telco. High-speed network infrastructure availability, both into and out of Indonesia, is important for business and personal consumers in Indonesia to be able to connect to global content.
Ooi Seng Keat, VP, Carrier Services, Group Enterprise, Singtel
The construction of INDIGO is timely to meet the rising demand for high-speed broadband between Asia and Australia. This cable system complements our global connectivity that links Asia, the US, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. INDIGO will be a new data superhighway that facilitates Singtel and Optus to catalyse the development of digital economies across the regions.
