ANZ finances trans-Pacific subsea internet cable

Southern Cross Cable Network (SCCN) is adding to its subsea offering and building a new, 13,000-kilometre, high-speed internet cable connecting Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific with the west coast of the United States.

The large-scale project involves the design, construction and operation of the Southern Cross NEXT cable, SCCN’s second Pacific submarine cable project, due for completion in late 2021.

Alcatel Submarine Networks will begin construction on the new trans-Pacific cable this year. Southern Cross NEXT represents a network investment of around US$300 million by Southern Cross.

ANZ will finance construction of up to $USD75 million for the project.

The new cable will run between Sydney, Auckland and California with spurs connecting Fiji, Tokelau and Kiribati.

The SCCN is a joint venture between telcos Spark, Telstra, Optus/SingTel and Verizon which provides fast, direct and secure international bandwidth from Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii to mainland USA.

Southern Cross President and CEO Laurie Miller said: “The addition of the new Southern Cross NEXT route to the existing eco-system will provide existing and future Southern Cross NEXT customers with further resiliency and connectivity options between Australia, New Zealand and the United States."

"We are delighted to have successfully achieved this key milestone, and all focus will now turn to the timely implementation of the new system, and the continued development of product enhancements to meet our customers growing and changing requirements.”

The fibre capacity of Southern Cross NEXT will be 72 terabits per second based on current technology and the cable itself will last for an estimated 30 years. Capacity of the joint venture’s existing cable is capable of 24 terabits per second.

ANZ Director Loans and Specialised Finance Hannah Crosby said the bank is pleased to play a part in the landmark project.

“Fibre internet is increasingly engrained in our lives and we’re thrilled to be part of helping further and better connect New Zealand and Australia to the Pacific and the United States,” Ms Crosby said.

“Southern Cross NEXT together with the existing Southern Cross network provides the Australasian market with significant and highly resilient capacity supply.”

About the Southern Cross NEXT Cable

• The main cable is 13,483 kilometres, 16,148 kilometres including branches connecting the Pacific Islands
  Designed to carry 72terabits per second
  Uses C-band technology ensuring Southern Cross can cater for its customers’ future data requirements
  It is expected to be ready for service by Dec 2021

For media enquiries contact Siobhan Enright, 021 991 325

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