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  November 15, 2000 atimes.com  

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Oceania

Undersea cable to bridge the hemispheric divide

SYDNEY- Australian businesses will have access to long-awaited direct links for Internet services between Australia, New Zealand and the United States after the launch of the $A2 billion ($US1.03 billion) Southern Cross Cable Network on Wednesday.

Cable & Wireless Optus Ltd, a major stakeholder in the 30,500 kilometer undersea cable, on Tuesday confirmed the network would commence service on schedule. Under construction for several years, the network is one of the longest undersea cables in the world and is designed to take up the explosion in Internet use and improve access to video and audio data services.

C&W Optus has a 40 percent stake in the cable, Telecom New Zealand 50 percent and Worldcom 10 percent. C&W Optus on Tuesday launched the Australian link to parent company C&W PLC's global Internet Protocol (IP) network, which will operate via the Southern Cross cable. The link will offer Australian businesses direct access to the US and other world business centers at up to twice the current speeds and without the need to traverse a number of different networks.

"With global.net, we can now offer Australian businesses increased speed and the same guaranteed quality of service that their US counterparts receive - the highest service level guarantees in the industry," C&W Optus chief executive Chris Anderson said.

C&W Optus director of e-solutions David Stokes-McKeon said the service was already running with Excite@Home and would be open for business on January 1. "What this does is basically provide a totally seamless global delivery of service," he said. "We can operate at much faster speeds, much greater assurity and much greater service reliability than what we have seen up to now."

Telecom NZ said it expected to receive a $100 million benefit from in dividend stream from its half share in the Southern Cross Cable in the financial year to June 30, 2001. Chief financial officer Marko Bogoievski said Telecom was reviewing its future ownership level of Southern Cross. It could increase its leverage or sell down to cash up its investment.

(Asia Pulse)


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