New Perth subsea cable to compete with SubPartners

Trident Subsea Cable has signed a commitment for a new AU$400 million Perth-to-Singapore subsea cable, just months after Bevan Slattery and Ted Pretty announced their new venture SubPartners and their plan to connect Perth and Singapore with a 4,600km subsea cable.

The company, backed by Beijing Construction and Engineering Group with the support of the China Development Bank, today signed an AU$320 million commitment toward the project to deploy a subsea cable from Perth through to the Pilbara region to Jakarta in Indonesia, and up to Singapore.

The Western Australia government said in a press release today that the proposal would also have an onshore connection from Perth through to Port Hedland, and a subsea cable loop around the North West Shelf.

Trident said that it intends to offer access to the infrastructure to the mining, oil, and gas industries in Western Australia, as well as the government. The company said it will also offer the provision of datacentre co-location in Western Australia.

WA Commerce Minister Michael Mischin said that the new cable will boost competitive telecommunications in the state.

"The government supports any proposal to improve telecommunications infrastructure, particularly in WA's North West, as the region is significantly important to the state's economy and to Australia," he said in a statement.

"Trident's project will support the increasing bandwidth and international connectivity needs of the numerous multinational companies now operating out of WA. It will also be beneficial for the state's planned involvement in global projects, such as the Square Kilometre Array International Telescope."

The Perth-to-Singapore SEA-ME-WE 3 cable was cut in January, affecting a number of services in Australia and New Zealand.