Following a successful upgrade to the Indigo Submarine Cable, SUBCO, a pioneering consulting and investment company in submarine cable networks, has partnered with Ciena to bolster the capacity and resilience of the Oman Australia Cable (OAC), facilitating a robust undersea corridor between Australia and Europe.
Utilizing Ciena GeoMesh Extreme, empowered by WaveLogic 5 Extreme in the 6500 Packet-Optical Platform, OAC has significantly increased its maximum capacity to an impressive 48 terabits per second (Tb/s). This enhancement plays a crucial role in meeting the escalating bandwidth demands in the region.
Lee Harper, Chief Operating Officer of SUBCO, expressed pride in the collaboration, stating, “We have a long history of working with Ciena and, together, we are proud to provide our customers with an express gateway for onward capacity from Australia to Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. OAC provides the market with the most secure and diverse route to connect Europe with Asia Pacific and is important in boosting Australia’s digital resiliency.”
Security and reliability have been emphasized by SUBCO, particularly in the context of OAC’s role as an alternative route for moving traffic between Asia Pacific, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Ivan Polizzi, Regional Managing Director at Ciena Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific, highlighted how Ciena’s GeoMesh Extreme solution enables SUBCO to stay ahead of proactive bandwidth requirements and reactive performance demands while guaranteeing network availability.
OAC, a 9,800-kilometer submarine cable connecting Muscat, Oman, and Perth, Australia, commercially launched in November 2022. An additional alternate path, set to connect Salalah, Oman, to Europe and Africa, is in progress and is anticipated to be operational by 2024.
SUBCO, founded by industry leader Bevan Slattery, has a remarkable track record in developing, owning, and operating large-scale submarine infrastructure in the Australasia region. With a formidable portfolio of submarine infrastructure and ongoing projects like the transcontinental cable project (SMAP) connecting Sydney, Melbourne (Torquay), Adelaide, and Perth, SUBCO continues to invest in cutting-edge technology, nearing a total investment of $750 million.
