Singtel,  SubPartners  and  Telstra  team  up  for  new  Perth  to  Singapore  submarine  cable  link  

 31  March  2016  –  Singtel,  SubPartners,  and  Telstra  jointly  announced  today  that  they  have  entered  into  a  Memorandum  of  Understanding  (MOU)  to  build  a  new  international  submarine  cable,  APX-­West,  connecting  Perth  and  Singapore.      The  new  APX-­West  submarine  cable  is  expected  to  begin  construction  by  the  end  of  July  2016  and  is  scheduled  to  be  completed  in  2018.    Once  completed,  the  new  submarine  cable  will  span  more  than  4,500  kilometres  carrying  traffic  between  Australia  and  Singapore.      The  new  cable  will  incorporate  two  fibre  pairs  providing  two-­way  data  transmission  and  each  pair  will  have  a  minimum  design  capacity  of  10  Terabits  per  second.    The  cable  will  terminate  in  facilities  operated  by  the  consortium  members  in  Singapore  and  Australia  significantly  reducing  costs  and  permitting  times.    Bevan  Slattery,  SubPartners  founder  and  CEO  said,  “The  MOU  is  a  major  milestone  for  the  project,  with  the  foundation  parties  including  Singtel,  SubPartners  and  Telstra  committing  to  purchase  the  entire  available  capacity  on  the  system.      "The  APX-­West  system  is  a  consortium  cable  with  all  the  major  players  having  access  to  ownership  economics  at  a  fraction  of  the  cost  of  private  cable  ownership.  This  is  a  unique  commercial  model  for  the  Perth-­Singapore  route  that  will  satisfy  the  ongoing  bandwidth  requirements  of  both  network  operators  and  internet  content  hosts.”    Ooi  Seng  Keat,  Vice  President,  Carrier  Services,  Group  Enterprise  at  Singtel  said,  “The  current  data  bridge  between  Singapore  and  Perth  is  carried  by  the  SEA-­ME-­WE  3  cable.  The  APX-­West  cable  will  be  a  new  data  superhighway  to  expand  data  connectivity  and  capacity  between  Singapore  and  Australia,  providing  network  redundancy  and  the  lowest  latency  from  Australia  to  Southeast  Asia,  the  Middle  East  and  Europe.  Today  Singtel  has  one  of  the  most  extensive  submarine  cable  infrastructures  in  the  Asia  Pacific  region.  With  these  capabilities,  the  Singtel  Group,  including  Optus,  can  meet  customers’  growing  data  requirements  for  bandwidth-­intensive  applications  such  as  unified  communications,  enterprise  data  exchange,  internet  TV  and  online  gaming.”    Darrin  Webb,  Telstra’s  Executive  Director  International  Operations  and  Services  said  “The  MOU  is  a  significant  step  forward  in  building  what  would  be  a  valuable  addition  to  Telstra’s  subsea  network,  which  is  one  of  the  largest  in  the  Asia-­Pacific.    As  consumers  and  businesses  continue  to  embrace  online  products  and  services,  such  as  video  streaming  and  cloud,  the  demand  for  international  connectivity  continues  to  rise,  creating  a  strong  case  for  building  this  new  cable.”              Media  contact:      Singtel  Media  Contact:  Mr  Sonny  Phua,  Tel:  +65  6838  6527  or  HP:  +65  8511  7996  sonnyphua@singtel.com    Subpartners  Media  Contact:  Dee  Apostolova,  +61  423  015  556  or  dee@sapphirecommunications.com.au    Telstra  Media  contact:  Michael  Zappone  +  61  438  004  959  or  media@team.telstra.com      

         

About  Singtel  Singtel   is   Asia's   leading   communications   and   ICT   solutions   group,   providing   a   portfolio   of   services   from   next-­generation  communication,   technology  services   to   infotainment   to  both  consumers  and  businesses.  For   consumers,  Singtel   delivers  a  complete  and  integrated  suite  of  services,  including  mobile,  broadband  and  TV.  For  businesses,  Singtel  offers  a  complementary  array  of  workforce  mobility  solutions,  data  hosting,  cloud,  network  infrastructure,  analytics  and  cyber-­security  capabilities.  The  Group   has   presence   in   Asia,   Australia   and   Africa   and   reaches   over   595   million   mobile   customers   in   25   countries.   Its  infrastructure  and  technology  services  for  businesses  span  21  countries,  with  more  than  200  direct  points  of  presence  in  160  cities.  For  more  information,  please  visit  www.singtel.com.        Optus  is  the  wholly-­owned  subsidiary  of  the  Singtel  Group  and  services  over  ten  million  customers  each  day.  It  provides  a  broad  range  of  communications  services  including  mobile,  telephony,  business  network  services,  internet  and  satellite  services  and  subscription  television.  For  more  information,  please  visit  www.optus.com.au.    About  SubPartners    SubPartners  is  a  dynamic  company  committed  to  delivering  significant  telecommunications  infrastructure  projects  through  an  innovative  model  of  trusted  relationships  and  partnerships.  Founded  by  some  of  the  industries  most  experienced  and  trusted  telecommunications  entrepreneurs,  SubPartners  has  the  relationships,  experience  and  access  to  funding  necessary  to  take  major  telecommunications  infrastructure  projects  from  concept  to  reality.  For  more  information  visit  www.subpartners.net.      About  Telstra    Telstra  is  a  leading  telecommunications  and  information  services  company.  We  offer  a  full  range  of  services  and  compete  in  all  telecommunications  markets  in  Australia,  operating  the  largest  mobile  and  Wi-­Fi  networks.  Globally,  we  provide  end-­to-­end  solutions  including  managed  network  services,  global  connectivity,  cloud,  voice,  colocation,  conferencing  and  satellite  solutions.  We  have  licenses  in  Asia,  Europe  and  the  United  States  and  offer  access  to  more  than  2,000  points  of  presence  across  the  globe.    For  more  information  visit  www.telstra.com.