Australian operator Vocus has signed an agreement with Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) for the construction of the Australia Singapore Cable (ASC). The ASC project is a 4,600-km submarine cable system linking Australia to Singapore and Indonesia. The system design will provide a minimum capacity of 40 Tbps from Western Australia to South East Asia.
Vocus confirms that it has secured Singapore IDA approval and renewed Landing Rights with MoCIT in Indonesia, which, in combination with moving to a CIF with ASN, fulfils all necessary requirements to commence and complete the project. ASC is expected to take approximately 19 months to build, with completion targeted by August 2018. The effective life of the ASC is estimated to be a minimum of 25 years.
Overall investments in the ASC project are expected to reach USD 170 million. Payments made during FY17 will be funded from existing debt capacity, while payments made in FY18 and beyond will be funded from a combination of existing debt capacity, operating cash flow and expected customer pre-payments for Indefeasible Rights of Use (IRU) agreements, Vocus said. Vocus expects to receive IRU pre-payments of approximately USD 100 million during the build period.
ASC has also signed a binding landing co-operation agreement with XL Axiata to ensure security of tenure, commercial arrangements and nation-wide coverage in Indonesia through XL’s 21,000-km domestic transmission network. Additionally, ASC, combined with Nextgen’s trans-Australian fibre network and Vocus’ capacity on the Southern Cross cable to Los Angeles, provides an alternative route for data traffic from the Indian Ocean region through to North America.
