New Zealanders may soon score a new high-speed cable link to Sydney boasting 240Gbps international capacity, after Pipe Networks announced today it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kiwi telco Kordia.
"It's certainly very much a New Zealand benefit," Pipe Networks managing director Bevan Slattery said. "There's benefit both ways, but what it's doing for New Zealand is creating competition. There's only one high speed cable between Australia and New Zealand right now."
From day one, the cable — PPC-2 (Pipe Pacific Cable 2) — will supply 240Gbps international capacity from the company's PPC-1 (Pipe Pacific Cable 1) Sydney-Guam link, Slattery said, but it has the ability to support over 1Tbps.
The cable was on the cards when Pipe Networks was in the planning stage of the PPC-1 Cable, according to Slattery. However, the cable is not yet a sure thing, with the company still needing to go through the financing and tender process for the project.
"We're confident enough to announce we're working on this," he said, highlighting the AU$8 million the company has already invested in the cable to date. "We didn't make the investment lightly."
The AU$8 million investment includes AU$4 to AU$5 million on carrying out a size and amplification upgrade for the PP1 Sydney landing station to make it suitable for housing the New Zealand cable, and AU$2 to AU$3 million on laying fibre from the station to a point 120 km east of Sydney.
