Telecom New Zealand today said it has completed three significant fibre optic projects worth about $16 million. What that means is that Telecom has finished laying 133km of fibre optic cable between Invercargill and Queenstown and 92km of cable between Fairlie and Twizel to complete a fibre optic ‘ring’ in the lower South Island.
All in all, the fibre-optic network ring now connects Christchurch, Timaru, Oamaru, Dunedin, Invercargill, Queenstown, Cromwell and Wanaka.
A series of new Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) terminals have been installed at telephone exchanges in ten centres around the fibre ring: Invercargill, Queenstown, Wanaka, Cromwell, Omarama, Dunedin, Oamaru, Pleasant Point, Timaru and Christchurch.
These terminals can deliver telecommunications traffic over 32 channels at up to 10 Gigabits per second and provide about 128 times the capacity possible on the pre-existing Core Network.
The new network provides added capacity to accommodate expected increases in data traffic over the next decade, particularly as demand for Ethernet (high speed data) and broadband services grow, and allow for the delivery of future consumer services.
As an added bonus, Telecom says the ring network will also boost the reliability of the core telecommunications network for those centres with major traffic directed over it. The new network is self-healing as it can re-route traffic between centres on the ring.
Further fibre will be deployed in Southland and Otago this year as part of Telecom's ongoing investment in the region. A significant project will be the laying of fibre from Invercargill to Bluff. Overall, Telecom is spending $10 million on investment plans for upgrading and extending communications in the Southland region this year, along with $21 million in Otago.
People undertaking digging or excavation work are reminded to call Telecom on 124 beforehand to ensure that there is no cabling in the digging area.
