TPG to open direct Asian internet route

ISP TPG expected data roundtrips between Sydney and Asia to fall to as little as 100ms when a new direct internet traffic route goes live next week.

The route used Pipe Networks' PPC-1 submarine cable from Sydney to Guam.

But instead of forwarding the traffic from Guam to the US and then on to Asia - as TPG had in the past - it would be routed more directly from Guam to Japan, according to TPG's general manager of marketing and sales Craig Levy.

"The interconnection's changed to make it a more direct route," Levy said.

"We're in control of the peering and termination of that traffic in Japan.

"The Asia-based experience on the web for our customers is going to be a lot better for gaming, apps that use video and other time-sensitive acts."

The new route was expected to provide "improved response times and lower latency times overall", according to a brief announcement on the Whirlpool broadband forums.

Levy produced traceroute results from TPG's Sydney router to its Japan peering link that showed an average roundtrip of 106ms - although the roundtrip was officially being quoted as between 100 and 120ms.

TPG took ownership of the Sydney-Guam route after it bought Pipe Networks' PPC-1 submarine cable assets in November last year.

The acquisition also came with Pipe's national dark fibre network, on which TPG now offers a 100 Mbps symmetrical service for businesses.

The service offers unlimited quota for $599 a month over 24 months and has proved a "good fit for small-to-mid-sized businesses", Levy said.