The Oman-Australia undersea cable linking Perth and Muscat, is, according to the company that built it, ready for service.
The Oman Australia Cable (OAC) — a 9,800-kilometre system manufactured and installed by undersea cable specialist SUB.CO — has landing points in Perth, Australia, West Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Muscat, Oman.
According to a report in the Oman Daily Observer, a key differentiator for the cable is said to be its route. It is described as the first fully diverse cable between EMEA and Asia that avoids the Malacca Straight. This is a narrow stretch of water between Indonesia and Malaysia that has a high level of seismic and marine activity causing regular outages on submarine cable.
OAC is Australia’s first express subsea cable to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, creating a pathway of diverse connectivity from Australia to Oman, Europe, and onwards. A cross-connection to the Indigo cable system gives SUB.CO a route from Australia to Europe and the USA.
The Indigo cable system spans 9,200 kilometres, and consists of two 4,600 kilometre cable projects, Indigo West, connecting Singapore to Perth via Jakarta, and Indigo Central, connecting Perth to Sydney.
The OAC is a three-fibre pair system with an option to upgrade to four fibre pairs based upon final demand. SUB.CO expects another month of testing before OAC takes on commercial traffic.