Australia Singapore Cable | Vocus Communications

Australia Singapore Cable fully operational, with significant industry support

Posted on September 14, 2018

Image: The Project Team celebrating ASC RFS - (L-R) - David Gibson, Peter Harrison, Simon Smith, Mathew Shields, Michael Deklerk, Dina Bauman, Mici Tsang. It’s taken almost two years to construct; involved more than five years of planning; seen 4600km of undersea cable laid, at times kilometres down...

Vocus’ infrastructure helps secure Australia’s digital future

Posted on September 12, 2018

Image: Vocus Chairman Bob Mansfield AO and the Hon Mitch Fifield, Minister for Communications and the Arts. Vocus’ commitment to infrastructure that will secure Australia’s digital future was the focus of a Canberra parliamentary briefing, hosted by company Chairman Bob Mansfield AO. The Hon Mitch...

Vocus ASC Ready for Service on 14 September 2018

Posted on August 29, 2018

With the flick of a switch, Vocus Communications’ $US170m Australia Singapore Cable was today connected to the company’s terrestrial network, providing the country with a massive increase in capacity into the Asian region. Vocus Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Russell,...

The Australia Singapore Cable Lay is Complete

Posted on July 23, 2018

The cable laying phase of the Australia Singapore Cable (ASC) system is complete, with the final splice having been completed south-east of Singapore. Vocus Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Russell recognised the significance of the milestone. “I’m thrilled to have reached...

An ASC Technology Tour de Force

Posted on June 27, 2018

What may seem a simple exercise of putting a cable on the ocean floor and connecting it at a couple of locations certainly is not the reality when you dive into the amazing technology and planning that is embedded within the Vocus ASC. We took the opportunity recently to chat with Mathew Shields to...

The Science of Laying Submarine Cables

Posted on May 17, 2018

Submarine cable laying requires a highly specific set of skills. It is unlike other offshore engineering projects. Managing cable projects is a profession in its own right and the captain of a cable layer is in charge of everything. Alcatel Submarine Network’s (ASN) cable ship Ile de Batz has...

Australia Singapore Cable Landed at Anyer, Indonesia

Posted on May 11, 2018

The Ile de Re has landed the Australia Singapore cable at Anyer, Indonesia. During the landing process the cable was floated to shore supported by buoys every few metres. The first of those was a commemorative Golden Buoy. The cable was hauled into the Beach Man Hole by a specialist team who then...

Vocus Australia Singapore Cable Main Lay Progress

Posted on April 18, 2018

ASN cable laying ship Ile de Batz is approaching the waters off Fremantle in Western Australia. It set out three weeks ago from Christmas Island with almost 3000km of cable on board and has made steady progress since, laying around 10km of cable on average per hour. The final approach to Fremantle...

ASC Repeater Dedications

Posted on April 10, 2018

Tradition has it that the Repeaters on many submarine cable networks are dedicated to key people and partners who have played an important role in bringing a project to life. This tradition is alive and well on the Vocus Australia Singapore Cable (ASC) project. The ASC has 50 Repeaters in total....

Australia Singapore Cable Building Work Begins

Posted on March 28, 2018

After years of planning and months of preparation the ASC cable laying is now underway. Vocus Head of Network Product, Pricing and Carrier, Luke Mackinnon says the cable is being laid in two distinct sections using two cable laying ships. “We could have done the entire lay with one vessel, but...

Maximising submarine cable performance

Posted on February 22, 2018

SLTE or submarine line terminating equipment is the most important technology in an international cable network like the ASC. Head of Vocus International Luke Mackinnon says this is the transmission hardware that plugs into each end of the fibre. It determines the cable’s data throughput or...

Cable ships en route to key sites in advance of main lay

Posted on February 13, 2018

The Australia Singapore Cable (ASC) project reached an exciting milestone over the weekend. Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) completed the loading of the ASC’s 4600km of cable and 50 repeaters which were manufactured in Calais, France. The Ile de Batz and the freighter BBC Adriatic are now en...

Submarine cable security

Posted on February 02, 2018

There are more than 400 undersea telecommunications cables connecting the world. Every few days one of them is cut. In almost every case the damage is accidental or an act of nature. The most likely causes, in descending order are underwater earthquakes, rock slides, anchors and fishing boats. A small...

Vocus readying terrestrial network in advance of Australia Singapore Cable RFS

Posted on January 22, 2018

Vocus Communications (“Vocus”) is in the process of upgrading core domestic infrastructure to support the early customer demand for Australia Singapore Cable (“ASC”), as the project’s ready for service date draws closer. The planned upgrade is designed to deliver an additional 8T of capacity...

First Marine Stage Completes with Singapore Cable Landing

Posted on January 18, 2018

Contractors winched the Singapore end of the ASC cable to shore in December. Peter Harrison, Vocus Head of Major Projects, says it is a significant project milestone. "The work completes the first stage of the marine programme,” he says. Landing a cable in the world's second busiest harbour is a complex...

Introducing the Great Southern Route

Posted on December 20, 2017

When the ASC opens for business in July 2018 it will open the door for a new strategic data route. The Great Southern Route (“GSR”) will connect South East Asia to North America via Australia. Vocus International head Luke Mackinnon says the GSR is a safer trans-Pacific route which will be attractive...

Vocus ASC Set To Support Critical Indonesian Information Infrastructure

Posted on December 11, 2017

The Vocus Communications Australia Singapore Cable (“ASC”) is to be officially launched in Indonesia today, in an event with its Landing Partner XL Axiata. The event celebrates the strategic and economic opportunities the cable will deliver for Indonesia as a key landing point on the ASC...

The Centre of Australia's Internet Universe Shifts West

Posted on December 6, 2017

In the past most of Australia's international data traffic flowed to and from the US West Coast. That's where the internet was born. The biggest online names still call the West Coast home. Yet that's less important than it was. The focus has changed; the centre of the Internet universe has shifted....

See-Me-We 3 Outage Highlights Need For New Cable

Posted on December 4, 2017

This weekend’s Sea-Me-We 3 Cable outage highlights the need for international diversity and a new cable system, Vocus says. “The SMW3 system is nearing end-of-life”, says Luke Mackinnon, Head of Vocus International. “It is a fragile system and as outages like this - the third this year...

ASC Hits Project Mid-point

Posted on November 27, 2017

Building work on the Australia Singapore Cable (“ASC”) has now passed the halfway point, reaching a number of critical milestones. The Vocus-owned project, worth USD$170m, provides an important link between Australia and two of Asia’s strongest economies – Indonesia and Singapore. “Once...

Design & Construction Progressing on the LCDR

Posted on August 31, 2017

The last couple of months have been busy for the ASC project with the Singapore Land Cable Duct Run (LCDR) construction progressing well, the finalisation of the Perth LCDR design and the rapid progress of ASN’s marine system manufacturing in Europe. Following the signing of Lucky Joint Construction...

Australia Singapore Cable on Schedule for Early Delivery

Posted on August 25, 2017

In its results release to the ASX today, Vocus confirmed that the build of its Australia Singapore Cable (“ASC”) is scheduled to be delivered ahead of schedule. The ASC was originally scheduled to be delivered in September 2018 but the Company today confirmed that the build has less than...

ASC Beach-Head in Singapore Now Under Construction

Posted on July 20, 2017

In June, ASC has commenced the construction of the critical on-shore network components of the system in Singapore. The ASC Program of Work is successfully running to budget and ahead of schedule with a Ready-for-Service date bought forward to July 2018. ASC has contracted Lucky Joint Construction...

ASC Cable Asset Now Rolling off the Production Line

Posted on July 05, 2017

In May, ASC successfully concluded its final Technical and Engineering Design Review with its long-term network construction partner Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) at their manufacturing facilities in Calais, France and Greenwich, United Kingdom. The ASC Project Team was led by Mat Shields...

ASC Project on Target - Final Design Completed, Cable Manufacture Commences

Posted on April 06, 2017

Vocus Group Limited (ASX:VOC) (Vocus) and Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), part of Nokia, have finalised the contractual documentation including the final technical specifications for the Australia Singapore Cable (ASC) system. This achieves the next major ASC project milestone. It provides...

4600km submarine cable linking Asia and Australia commencing construction

Posted on December 06, 2016

Australia Singapore Cable announced today that it has executed a binding agreement with Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), referred to as contract-in-force (CIF), for the construction of the Australia Singapore Cable (ASC). The ASC project is a ~4,600km submarine cable system linking Australia...

ASC achieves full permitting

Posted on September 14, 2015

ASC is now fully permitted to operate the Singapore to Western Australia (via Indonesia) submarine cable after receiving the Indonesia Landing Permit approval. The ASC team recently attended the Pacific Telecommunications Council conference in Hawaii where they met with prospective customers...

New submarine cable to link Perth & Singapore

Posted on May 01, 2013

The ACMA has granted a non-protection zone permit to lay submarine cable off the coast of Perth. The permit is for a nationally significant fibre-optic submarine cable that will link Perth and Singapore. The permit issued by the ACMA authorises construction of a submarine cable from City...

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