A new high-speed subsea cable linking Western Australia with key global markets has been switched on by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The US$300 million Oman Australia Cable system enables direct ultra-high-speed data connectivity from both the East and West Coasts of Australia to the Middle East and Europe.
Built by Australian owned and operated SUBCO, the cable is set to make Western Australia a “critical data hub for the country”, Albanese said at the launch.
“Ensuring Australian businesses and industry can share data quickly and securely to global markets has never been more critical to our country’s economic future. OAC delivers more capacity to support Australia’s growing digital economy and jobs,” he said.
The new cable system has been designed to avoid congested and contested global routes to improve Australia’s digital resiliency and security, according to SUBCO Founder Bevan Slattery.
“This Oman Australia Cable opens up a new secure and low-latency express route between Australia and EMEA and is the only cable that avoids other legacy systems built in heavily congested waters including the Malacca and Sunda Straits as well as South China Sea,” he said.
“As a result, all of Australia will now have access to improved network performance and reliability through this completely new route to the Middle East and Europe from Australia.”
The cable system was supplied and installed by SubCom on behalf of SUBCO.