New Submarine Cable Project, Aims To Connect Invercargill With Sydney & Melbourne
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In a significant move for New Zealand’s digital infrastructure, Intelia NZ has announced the Te Waipounamu submarine cable project. This groundbreaking initiative aims to link Invercargill with Sydney and Melbourne, marking a major advancement in the digital connectivity of the South Island.
The cable, stretching 3,000 kilometers, comprises 16 fiber pairs. It includes 4 fiber pairs connecting Invercargill to Australia with a capacity of 120 Tbps, and 12 fiber pairs between Sydney and Melbourne, each offering 35 Tbps. This network is designed to be the fastest high-capacity link between New Zealand and Australia, boasting an expected latency of less than 25 milliseconds.
This development is particularly vital for Christchurch and Dunedin, which are leading New Zealand’s digital evolution. The cable also serves as a strategic national infrastructure, providing a reliable backup for existing North Island submarine cables.
Rémi Galasso, founder of Intelia NZ, shared his enthusiasm: The new cable is going to be a game changer for the connectivity of NZ South Island. It will also unlock the huge potential of Southland in terms of sustainable data storage. It’s a fantastic challenge for our team and we are proud to continue contributing to New Zealand’s digital development.”
Adding to the excitement, Joshua Harrington, the Managing Director of Spotted Kiwi Interactive, emphasized the project’s significance: “The announcement of the Te Waipounamu undersea cable marks an exciting development for Southland. This addition not only provides a new connectivity point for redundancy but also significantly enhances experiences in latency-sensitive applications for residents in the south, particularly in online gaming. Furthermore, this cable safeguards our future in the digital economy. The availability of such connectivity enables data center infrastructure, like the T4 Group DC, to offer a competitive edge, especially beneficial for local and international companies seeking to position important infrastructure closer to their customers.”
The project, with a budget of NZ$160 million, is financed through a combination of equity, debt, and capacity contract commitments from major industry stakeholders in Australia and New Zealand. Perrine Dhalluin, Director at Intelia NZ, outlined the timeline, noting, “Our plan is to finalize a supplier contract by April 2024 and start the permitting process in parallel, aiming for system commissioning by 2026.”
This innovative project is a significant milestone in enhancing New Zealand’s digital connectivity, promising to boost the country’s digital development and unlock new opportunities for sustainable data storage.