The Oman Australia Cable has recently undergone a significant upgrade aimed at enhancing its speed and reducing latency. Initially launched last year with a capacity of 39 terabits per second (Tbps), it has now been upgraded by Ciena, increasing its maximum capacity to 48 Tbps.
This upgrade was made possible by the integration of Ciena’s WaveLogic 5 Extreme coherent modems into their 6500 packet-optical platform, a key component of Ciena’s GeoMesh Extreme network architecture. However, the specific impact of this upgrade on the cable’s latency has not been disclosed by either company.
The Oman Australia Cable, initially proposed by Bevan Slattery, the founder of Subco in 2019, was designed to offer a more secure and disruption-resistant route compared to the heavily congested shipping zones such as the Sunda Strait and the South China Sea. It achieves route diversity through an interconnection with the Indigo cable, consisting of two segments running from Singapore to Perth (Indigo West) and then on to Sydney (Indigo Central).
Lee Harper, the Chief Operating Officer at Subco, highlighted the cable’s significance in enhancing Australia’s digital resiliency and providing a secure and diverse route to connect Europe with the Asia Pacific region. The Oman Australia Cable commenced its operations by carrying its first traffic in September 2022.