They have contracted Alcatel Submarine Networks to build the 9,000-km system by mid-2019. Indigo will connect Singapore and Perth, and onwards to Sydney. Landing will occur in existing facilities in Singapore, Australia and Indonesia, also allowing connections between Singapore and Jakarta.
The system will use a two-fibre pair ‘open cable’ design with spectrum-sharing technology. This allows consortium members to share ownership of spectrum within the cable, giving them the ability to independently take advantage of technology advancements and future upgrades as required. Each of the two fibre pairs will have a minimum capacity of 18 Tbps, with the option to increase this capacity in the future.
Google said the investment will support its cloud business and the growing number of people and businesses coming online in Asia. This is its seventh investment in submarine cable systems and its fifth in the Asia region.
For Singtel, the cable connects its Australian operator Optus with its other operations in southeast Asia, while AARnet, Australia's research and education network, will benefit from improved connections with the region.
As part of the deal, Superloop, a new provider of PoPs in Asia, has acquired the Australian services provider Subpartners for USD 2.5 million in shares. Superloop also committed to capital expenditure for the Indigo project, saying it expects to spend USD 35-37 million in the period 2017-2020. As SubPartners is responsible for managing the shore infrastructure for Indigo in Sydney, the company expects fees of USD 5.3 million from the consortium this year and next.
