Southern Cross Cable: How it Works and its Impact on Global Communications

The Southern Cross Cable is a vital part of the global communication network, connecting Australia to the United States and New Zealand.

It spans over 40,000 kilometers, making it one of the longest undersea cables in the world.

The cable is a key player in the global internet infrastructure, providing high-speed connectivity to millions of people.

It's a crucial link between the East and the West, enabling fast and reliable data transfer between continents.

The Southern Cross Cable system was first deployed in November 2000, after construction began in July 1999.

The initial system was laid by the ship CS Vercors and was later upgraded to increase its capacity.

In April 2008, the system's capacity was doubled, and it was upgraded to 860 gigabit/s by the end of that year.

The system was upgraded again in May 2010 to 1.2 Tbit/s, marking a significant increase in its capacity.

In 2012, the company completed the first 400G of an 800G upgrade, with the remaining 400G completed in December of the same year.

The Southern Cross Cable system has undergone several upgrades over the years, with the most recent upgrade adding 900 Gbps in June 2014.

Today, the system runs at a capacity of around 10Tbs, utilizing a mix of 100Gbs, 200Gbs, and 250Gbs wavelengths.

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The Southern Cross Cable is a significant player in the subsea cable landscape. It connects Australia to the US with a single span express cable, making it the shortest subsea route between the two countries.

The Southern Cross NEXT cable, also known as SX NEXT, is a 15,857-kilometer-long submarine cable system that spans along the sea floor. It's one of the largest single submarine cable infrastructure projects in the world.

SX NEXT is built using up to 400G Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) technology and purpose-built landing stations. This will deliver high-speed connectivity and low latency between countries, as well as a resilient network infrastructure for the Pacific region.

The cable has a four-fiber pair cable system capable of transporting 72Tbps, a remarkable addition to the current bandwidth and connectivity options linking Australia and the South Pacific Islands to the US.

The Southern Cross NEXT cable will be the third cable in the SCCN ecosystem, complementing the existing Southern Cross and Endeavor-AAG cable systems. This redundancy creates seamless, efficient paths from Australia into Asia-Pacific, the US, and beyond.

Here's a quick rundown of the Southern Cross NEXT cable's key features:

The Southern Cross Cable has been damaged a few times, despite its impressive length and the challenges of traversing the Pacific Ocean's Ring of Fire.

In 2007, hurricane strength storms and flooding wiped out the carrier's Oregon cable route, halving its bandwidth capability between Australia/New Zealand/Fiji and the United States for a short period.

Customer services were restored via the system's alternate path, and emergency works were organized to fix the damage permanently. These works were completed on 3 February 2008 at 12 midnight AEST.

There was also an undersea earthquake that impacted a shunt on the Southern Cross Cable in March 2008, but due to the cable's redundancy and spare capacity, users experienced no change in access or speed.

The Southern Cross Cable spans a significant distance across the Pacific Ocean, connecting Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and the United States. It's approximately 29,000 kilometers long.

The cable's route takes it across the Tasman Sea, from Australia to New Zealand, and then on to Fiji, before crossing the Pacific Ocean to the United States. This route allows for high-speed internet connectivity between these countries.

The Southern Cross Cable is a critical piece of infrastructure for the region, providing a reliable and fast connection for internet and telecommunications services. It's a vital link for businesses and individuals in the region.

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The Southern Cross Cable is constantly evolving to meet the growing demands of the Pacific region. The company is planning to launch a new cable, Southern Cross NEXT, which will be the largest capacity data link between Sydney, Auckland, and Los Angeles.

By 2024, the Southern Cross cable will jump to 1,000Gbps wavelengths without changing its cable or undersea repeaters. This is a substantial rise in capacity, made possible through collaboration with technology partners, Ciena and ASN.

The legacy cables of Southern Cross are set to retire in 2030, prompting the company to explore new opportunities in different destinations. A replacement strategy is also required for existing trans-Pacific cables reaching the end-of-life stage in the next decade.

The Southern Cross NEXT cable will carry 18Tbps, a significant improvement over the original Southern Cross cable, which was only designed to carry 40Gbps per fibre pair.

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The Southern Cross Cable is a crucial part of the Pacific Island's connectivity infrastructure, forming a protected ring network among 9 cable landing stations.

It contains 3 fiber pairs between Sydney and Hawaii, 4 fiber pairs between Hawaii and the US West Coast, and 3 fiber pairs on the Hawaii Inter-Island cable, with almost 30,500 km in length.

The Southern Cross Cable Network was originally designed to work with 10 Gbps DWDM and deliver 120Gbps of fully protected capacity.

By the end of 2023, the Southern Cross Cable Network had been capable of delivering system capacity of 18 Tbps, with an active capacity of 13.4 Tbps.

Here's a breakdown of the Southern Cross Cable Network's capacity upgrades:

The Southern Cross Cable Network is invested, owned, and operated by Southern Cross Cables Limited (SCCL), a Bermuda private limited company, and its sister company Pacific Carriage Limited Inc. (PCLI).