Internode talks up PPC-1 after packet test

Internode has successfully conducted end-to-end packet flow tests between Australia and the US using Pipe's PPC-1, Australia's latest international fibre-optic link.

Internode said the connection would carry as much as one third of its international data traffic when launched on October 8.

As well as putting downward pressure on international data transit prices, the PPC-1 link will create additional redundancy for Internode's data paths to the US, said Internode's carrier relations manager John Lindsay.

He told iTnews the company currently purchased its international capacity direct from the AJC (Australia to Japan Cable) and from the SCCN (Southern Cross Cable Network), which connects the east coast of Australia to the west coast of the United States.

Lindsay said Internode expected to keep its current contracts with these partners.

"In particular, having four cable paths will allow us to scale capacity and recover from wet segment faults even more rapidly than we can now ," Lindsay said.

He added that Internode intended to "significantly increase download quotas" with the launch of PPC-1 on October 8.

Simon Hackett, Internode managing director, said PPC-1 had passed its first tests with flying colours.

"PPC-1 has successfully demonstrated its performance by allowing Internode to send Internet Protocol (IP) packets end to end between Sydney and the US via Guam," Hackett said.

"As the first customer to trial PPC-1 ahead of its official launch, Internode now has full confidence in the fibre-optic cable's readiness for official handover to foundation commercial customers, including Internode, on October 8."

Bevan Slattery, CEO of PIPE Networks, said he was delighted that that the first test was able to be shared with one of it's foundation customers.

"PPC-1 project has been an extraordinary journey 'full of firsts',"Slattery said.

"Since PPC-1 passed first light on August 23 the teams at PIPE International and Tyco have been undertaking a rigorous testing regime on the system including full capacity testing, commissioning and acceptance testing of the Submarine Line Terminal Equipment (SLTE) and Power Feed Equipment (PFE), and in the past week exhaustive confidence trials," Pipe said in a statement to the ASX [PDF].

"With these trials now nearing completion, PPC-1 has also been able to interconnect onward capacity from Tata Telecommunications to create end-to-end connectivity between Australia and the United States for testing," the statement said.

PIPE Pacific Cable (PPC-1) is a 6900km fibre optic cable that links Sydney with the western Pacific island of Guam, a US territory with high bandwidth links to the continental United States.