Australia-US first direct submarine cable system to be put into operation in July

Telstra has announced that the first direct submarine cable linking Australia and the US will be ready for production in July 2022. 

The submarine cable system, called Southern Cross NEXT, will strengthen connections between Australia, New Zealand and the United States, with branch units connecting to Fiji, Kiribati and Tokelau. 

Telstra is a 25% shareholder in Southern Cross Cables Network (SCCN), owner of Southern Cross NEXT. 

The system has a total length of 13,700 kilometers, including four pairs of optical fibers, and will provide a total design capacity of 72Tbps when completed; it uses Alcatel Subsea Networks (ASN) WSS ROADMs and the latest generation of subsea repeaters, designed to accommodate future technological developments .