Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
79270 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator
ID Verified
Trusted
Geekzone
Lifetime subscriber

#159957 18-Dec-2014 11:16
Send private message

Spark, Telstra and Vodafone confirm plan to construct new trans-Tasman telecommunications cable starting early 2015

Alcatel-Lucent has been selected as the cable laying contractor after a competitive tender process, and the TGA Cable is expected to be built and providing data traffic by mid-2016.

The three telecommunications companies planning to build a new 2,300km submarine cable between New Zealand and Australia have today confirmed their investment and a commencement of the project in early 2015.

Spark New Zealand, Vodafone and Telstra will invest approximately USD $70 million on the new Tasman Global Access (TGA) Cable, which will significantly improve New Zealand’s international broadband connectivity and resilience.

Designed with a capacity of at least 20 Terabits per second (Tbit/s), the new TGA system will offer low-latency connectivity across the Tasman Sea, between Raglan, in New Zealand, and Narrabeen, in Australia. The system will provide an alternative route for trans-Tasman traffic, significantly improving New Zealand's international connectivity, as well as strengthening links into fast-growing Asian mark

Both Spark New Zealand and Vodafone’s trans-Tasman internet traffic has grown from just 10 percent of total international traffic in 2000 to 40 percent today. Trans-Pacific traffic has declined from 90 percent of all traffic in 2000 to 60 percent today, illustrating further the shift.

With New Zealand’s international capacity requirements growing 60 percent year-on-year, the TGA Cable will support the future needs of consumers and the growth aspirations of New Zealand businesses.

Raglan, on New Zealand’s West Coast, has been selected as the New Zealand landing station for the TGA Cable, providing important route diversity to the existing Southern Cross and Tasman 2 cables connecting New Zealand. Oxford Falls, Sydney, is the Australian landing station, provided by Telstra.

Spark New Zealand Managing Director, Simon Moutter, and Vodafone Chief Executive, Russell Stanners, jointly commented on behalf of the consortium:

“The partnership is a great outcome for all of New Zealand. As well as strengthened links into fast-growing Asian markets, the TGA Cable will enable New Zealand to better leverage the five main international cable systems currently serving Australia, and deliver important redundancy for New Zealand.

“We are seeing increased data content being provided from Australia-based servers by global companies and being accessed by New Zealand internet users. An additional cable connection with Australia will strengthen the business case for international data servers to be located in New Zealand, and improve access for Australian and other international businesses to New Zealand.”

Australia enjoys good connectivity with Asia, which is achieving strong internet traffic growth in-line with global economic shifts.

The project will begin early in 2015. Alcatel-Lucent has been selected as the cable laying contractor after a competitive tender process, and the TGA Cable is expected to be built and providing data traffic by mid-2016.

Spark New Zealand and Vodafone account for more than 70 percent of the New Zealand broadband market.




Please support Geekzone by subscribing, or using one of our referral links: Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies | Hatch | GoodSyncBackblaze backup


Create new topic
Sideface
9355 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
DR
Lifetime subscriber

  #1199829 18-Dec-2014 11:38
Send private message

Excellent news smile




Sideface




wellygary
8321 posts

Uber Geek


  #1199834 18-Dec-2014 11:45
Send private message

Sideface: Excellent news smile

 

 

+1,

 

Yeah , with more and more mutlinationals establishing points of presence in OZ, it can only be good for NZ's connectivity to them,

 


 

It should also give NZ data centres a bit of a leg up into the OZ market, with the assurance of Trans-Tasman capacity.

 


plambrechtsen
1948 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user


  #1200252 18-Dec-2014 22:57
Send private message

I think it's great news too, but I do wonder about who wrote the press release

Both Spark New Zealand and Vodafone’s trans-Tasman internet traffic has grown from just 10 percent of total international traffic in 2000 to 40 percent today. Trans-Pacific traffic has declined from 90 percent of all traffic in 2000 to 60 percent today, illustrating further the shift.


Did they really need to repeat themselves? As I would have thought it was rather obvious where the traffic shift had been.



freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
79270 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator
ID Verified
Trusted
Geekzone
Lifetime subscriber

  #1533025 14-Apr-2016 13:38
Send private message

Just received:

 

 

A team of specialist submarine cable experts have successfully laid the first section of the Tasman Global Access (TGA) undersea cable in Raglan.

The cable laying activities at Ngarunui Beach were completed on Friday 8 April.

Telecommunications companies Spark, Vodafone and Telstra are investing approximately USD $70 million to build the TGA cable, which will significantly improve New Zealand’s international broadband connectivity.

Vodafone’s Wholesale Director, Steve Rieger said the 25 strong beach landing project team took one week to bury the three kilometre stretch of heavily armoured cable, which weighs roughly 22 tonnes.

“The team began by pulling the cable ashore from the specialised ship, the MV Tranquil Image. They then stripped a section of the steel armour back to uncover the four fibres inside, which are connected to the terminal station in Raglan and will be connected to Vodafone’s AquaLink cable.  This cable already lands at the edge of Ngarunui Beach and will now also be used to carry TGA traffic to two locations in Auckland – one on the Spark network, and the other on Vodafone’s.

“The team then excavated roughly 5000 square metres of sand and hard clay to bury the cable to a depth of about three metres beneath the sand. During this process, an articulated protective pipe weighing more than 16 kilograms per metre was applied to the cable for extra protection. The remaining stretch of cable was buried to a depth of roughly one metre out into the ocean,” said Steve.  

Once it is in service the benefits of the TGA cable will include strengthened links into fast-growing Asian markets, important redundancy and resiliency, and better connection with the five main international cable systems currently serving Australia.

Spark’s General Manager Wholesale and International, Lindsay Cowley said, “During the course of the Raglan shore-end cable lay experts from as far away as Greece worked alongside excavators and builders from the local Raglan community. Together they have successfully completed the first phase of this important engineering project.

“The TGA project team collaborated with local Iwi, council and other groups to ensure this activity had no lasting impact on the environment, and we wish to once again thank the Raglan community for their support and understanding throughout the duration of the works,” said Lindsay.

The work in Raglan marks a significant milestone on the journey to having the TGA cable ready to start carrying data across the Tasman towards the end of 2016.

The TGA cable project is currently on track to be completed, tested and ready for service by the end of 2016. The 2,300km length of cable is comprised of two fibre pairs, and will have a total capacity of 20 terabits per second.

 





Please support Geekzone by subscribing, or using one of our referral links: Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies | Hatch | GoodSyncBackblaze backup


UHD

UHD
655 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user


  #1533100 14-Apr-2016 16:14
Send private message

Woo! TGA and Hawaiki soon to be completed. I think there might be some interesting competition for bandwidth in NZ soon. :)


ghettomaster
387 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #1533108 14-Apr-2016 16:41
Send private message

Am I missing something here?

My understanding was that Southern Cross were keeping ahead of capacity requirements, so there is no need for a new cable from a capacity perspective.

 

I also understand Southern Cross have quite a bit of resiliency built into their network, so there is no need for this cable from a redundancy perspective.

 

Finally, with unlimited residential plans now being a reality and international bandwidth not being the major cost for ISP's that it used to be, the need for this from a competition perspective is minimal.

 

 

 

Are these understandings correct?


DarthKermit
5346 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #1533129 14-Apr-2016 17:18
Send private message

Submarine cable comes ashore at Raglan

 

Herald article 


 
 
 
 

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).
Sideface
9355 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
DR
Lifetime subscriber

  #1533134 14-Apr-2016 17:35
Send private message

ghettomaster:

 

<snip>  I also understand Southern Cross have quite a bit of resiliency built into their network, so there is no need for this cable from a redundancy perspective.  <snip>

 

 

"A bit of redundancy" is not enough.

 

Our country lives on the end of a cable.

 

I use "triple redundancy" in my SOHO office - the country needs the same.  smile





Sideface


Create new topic





News and reviews »

Air New Zealand Starts AI adoption with OpenAI
Posted 24-Jul-2025 16:00


eero Pro 7 Review
Posted 23-Jul-2025 12:07


BeeStation Plus Review
Posted 21-Jul-2025 14:21


eero Unveils New Wi-Fi 7 Products in New Zealand
Posted 21-Jul-2025 00:01


WiZ Introduces HDMI Sync Box and other Light Devices
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:32


RedShield Enhances DDoS and Bot Attack Protection
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:26


Seagate Ships 30TB Drives
Posted 17-Jul-2025 11:24


Oclean AirPump A10 Water Flosser Review
Posted 13-Jul-2025 11:05


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Brings New Edge-To-Edge FlexWindow
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Epson Launches New AM-C550Z WorkForce Enterprise printer
Posted 9-Jul-2025 18:22


Samsung Releases Smart Monitor M9
Posted 9-Jul-2025 17:46


Nearly Half of Older Kiwis Still Write their Passwords on Paper
Posted 9-Jul-2025 08:42


D-Link 4G+ Cat6 Wi-Fi 6 DWR-933M Mobile Hotspot Review
Posted 1-Jul-2025 11:34


Oppo A5 Series Launches With New Levels of Durability
Posted 30-Jun-2025 10:15









Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.