TPG to acquire fibre on Australia-US undersea cable

Australian ISP TPG plans to acquire fibre capacity on Hawaiki Cable Limited’s Australia to US undersea cable.

The 14,000 km cable will run from Sydney to the west cost of the United States, crossing New Zealand and Hawaii.

Hawaiki signed a Memorandum of Understanding last month with regional economic development agency Northland Inc to build the undersea fibre optic cable that will connect the countries.

Using the latest 100 gigabits per second wavelength technology, up to 3 terabits per second capacity will be provided to TPG The project will also see the ability to upgrade to 400Gbps and other future technologies.

“This project represents an excellent opportunity to give us a new high quality international link direct to the US, complementing existing international links, which include TPG’s own Sydney to Guam undersea cable system,” TPG’s executive chairman, David Teoh, said in a statement.

TPG expects to spend between US$10m and US$20m for each of the next three financial years commencing FY14 on the project, according to its chief financial officer, Stephen Banfield.

The ISP will also acquire fibre capacity on Hawaiki’s trans-Tasman cable from Sydney to Whangarei in Northland, New Zealand.

The project is scheduled for completion in late 2015.