NEXT subsea cable goes live

News and Business

Southern Cross Cables has announced the launch of its Southern Cross NEXT cable, along with the implementation and testing of 400GbE services across the 15,840km network. In what is believed to be another world first for the longest single span 400GbE services yet achieved on a submarine cable network, Southern Cross in collaboration with Ciena were able to successfully commission and test the services error-free as part of the NEXT commissioning processes, paving the way for the introduction of 400GbE services between Sydney, Auckland and Los Angeles. The cable will also provide the first international submarine fibre connections to the islands of Tokelau and Kiribati and reinforce Fiji’s growing role as a digital hub for the Pacific Islands.

The NEXT cable has taken just over two years to complete during the global pandemic and will become the third route in the Southern Cross network eco-system between Australasia and the USA. The NEXT system will boost the capacity of the ecosystem by approximately 500%, to around 100 Terabits/second, effectively more than doubling Australia and New Zealand’s direct international connectivity capability to the USA. Southern Cross NEXT is using Ciena’s GeoMesh Extreme, powered by WaveLogic 5 Extreme coherent optical technology, to mesh the new system into the current Southern Cross eco-system network fabric. Ciena’s WL5e technology also helps underpin Southern Cross’ sustainable upgrade path by reducing power costs and inefficiencies by more than 600% on a per bit basis.

Laurie Miller, CEO of Southern Cross Cable Network said “The Southern Cross NEXT cable system is up and running, and the new technology and capability will support the rising demand for hyperscale bandwidth driven by cloud adoption and digitisation along with changing needs of our customers and the industry.  As part of our future strategy, not only is NEXT the first of the replacement cables for our existing systems when they retire in 2030, it also completes a trifecta for us. Southern Cross is currently the provider of the lowest latency routes between Sydney and Auckland, along with Auckland to Los Angeles, and will now add the lowest latency route between Sydney and Los Angeles to our portfolio.”

“With end-user digital applications continuing to proliferate, cable operators like Southern Cross need adaptive networks that can tackle ever-growing capacity demands yet remain reliable across long distances. As the first cable based on the open submarine cable model, the Southern Cross NEXT cable employs the latest advancements in submarine network performance and builds upon the foundation of available real-time capabilities provided by Ciena’s GeoMesh Extreme,” said Matthew Vesperman, managing director for Ciena Australia and New Zealand.

For more information, visit https://www.southerncrosscables.com/