Vocus to Build Australia Singapore Cable

Vocus Group has executed a binding agreement with Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), referred to as contract-in-force (CIF), for the construction of the Australia Singapore Cable (ASC).

The ASC project is a 4,600km submarine cable system linking Australia to Singapore, and Indonesia, with the system design providing a minimum of 40Tbps of capacity from Western Australia to South East Asia, the company explained.

Following the completion of the Nextgen acquisition, Vocus has secured Singapore IDA approval and renewed landing rights with MoCIT in Indonesia, which, in combination with moving to a CIF with ASN, fulfills all necessary requirements to start and complete the project, Vocus said.

ASC is expected to take approximately 19 months to build, with completion targeted for August 2018. The effective life of the ASC is estimated to be a minimum of twenty five years.

ASC in combination with Nextgen’s trans-Australian fibre network, creates a fully interconnected fibre network owned by Vocus from the East Coast of Australia through to Singapore (via Perth), with direct connectivity into Indonesia.

The ASC project is expected to cost approximately USD 170 million over the build period. 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, the company said.

ASC has also fully executed partnering arrangements with XL Axiata in the form of a binding landing co-operation agreement that provides security of tenure, commercial arrangements and nation-wide coverage in Indonesia through XL’s 21,000 km domestic transmission network.