$300 million optical fibre cable connects Perth to global markets

A new $300 million, 9,800km optical fibre telecommunications cable connecting Perth to the Middle-East, Europe and India has launched this week.

The cable leads into Equinix’s International Business Exchange (IBX) data centres in Perth and Muscat, Oman in the Arabian Peninsula.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese “switched on” the cable in Perth yesterday at the Equinix campus.

He said, “This new international cable will make Western Australia a critical data hub for the country.

“Ensuring Australian businesses and industry can share data quickly and securely to global markets has never been more critical to our country’s economic future.”

According to Albanese, the OAC (Oman-Australia Cable) system will enable ultra high-speed data connectivity between the East and West coasts of Australia and the Middle-East and Europe for the first time.

“OAC delivers more capacity to support Australia’s growing digital economy and jobs,” he said.

According to Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan, “Ensuring WA has access to world class digital infrastructure is critical in an increasingly data driven economy.” 

The OAC was built by Australian cable infrastructure company SUBCO, and was implemented by partner SubCom.

According to SUBCO founder Bevan Slattery, the system was designed to improve Australia’s digital resiliency and security.

“This Oman Australia Cable opens up a new secure and low latency express route between Australia and EMEA and is the only cable that avoids other legacy systems built in heavily congested waters including the Malacca and Sunda Straits as well as South China Sea,” said Slattery.

“As a result, all of Australia will now have access to improved network performance and reliability through this completely new route to the Middle-East and Europe from Australia.”

Equinix president and CEO Charles Meyer commented on the company’s role as a provider of cable station facilities for SUBCO, “This partnership illustrates how Equinix enables the critical infrastructure that powers the internet and we look forward to a long relationship together as Perth is poised to become a major hub.”