Telstra lauds cable plan to US

Telstra's involvement in a new submarine cable to run from Asia to the US will boost connectivity between Australia and Asia, according to Telstra chief operating officer Greg Winn.

Speaking at a Trans-Tasman Business Circle event in Sydney, Winn said the Asia America Gateway (AAG) -- the first high-bandwidth optical fibre submarine cable to link south-east Asia to the US, was part of an aggressive international connectivity strategy at the carrier.

"This cable, when completed, will provide Telstra with increased connectivity options between Australia and Asia, as well as increased capacity between Hawaii and the west coast of USA," Winn said.

AAG will stretch 20,000km and have an initial capacity of 480 gigabits per second. Seventeen telecommunications providers, many from across Asia, are funding the US$500 million link. The group hopes it will later provide speeds of up to 1.92 terabits per second.

With Internet use increasing rapidly, it was important that Telstra catered for future demand on these routes, Winn said.

Telstra's involvement in AAG complements its own plans to lay 9,000km of submarine cable between Sydney and Hawaii, which was announced in March.

The group, led by Telekom Malaysia, includes: AT&T, Bharti AirTel (India), Government of Brunei Darussalam, British Telecom Global Network Services, CAT Telekom (Thailand), Eastern Telecommunications Philippines, Indosat (Indonesia), Pacific Communications (Cambodia), Philippines Long Distance Telephone, PT Telkom (Indonesia), Saigon Postal Corporation (Vietnam), StarHub (Singapore), Telecom New Zealand, Viettel (Vietnam) and Vietnam Post & Telecommunications Group of Vietnam.

The AAG is expected to begin carrying commercial traffic by December 2008.