Vocus, Australia’s specialist fibre and network products provider, is set to deliver a massive boost to broadband capacity in the Northern Territory. Vocus said it will upgrade the NT’s internet backbone to a total capacity of 20Tbps, partnering with the NT Government to deliver the ‘Terabit Territory’ project and solidifying Vocus’ fibre infrastructure in Australia’s north-west.
The Terabit Territory project also provides a key strategic infrastructure opportunity for Vocus to establish a new fibre connection between Darwin and Singapore. Vocus is positioned to start work on linking its 2,100km North-West Cable System (NWCS), running from Darwin to Port Hedland, to its 4,600km Australia-Singapore Cable (ASC), connecting Perth to Singapore via Indonesia.
The Terabit Territory capacity boost will be achieved by upgrading Vocus’ existing internet backbone links connecting Darwin to Adelaide and Brisbane from 10Gbps technology to 200Gbps technology. The terrestrial upgrade is due for completion by mid-2021.
The AUD 18 million project will be jointly funded by the NT Government and Vocus, with the NT Government contributing AUD 7.9 million to fund the upgrade of the NT’s network backbone to Terabit functionality; alongside a AUD 10 million capital contribution from Vocus to upgrade connections from the Northern Territory to Vocus’ national backbone through Adelaide and Brisbane and onto all major Australian capitals.
The NT Government’s financial contribution is subject to Vocus completing the connection of NWCS to ASC, providing Darwin with a direct submarine cable connection to Singapore. The NWCS connects a number of major offshore oil and gas facilities in the Timor Sea, and was recently extended to connect Darwin to the Tiwi Islands.