Telstra International and Trans Pacific Networks (TPN) have partnered on the Echo cable, the first subsea cable to directly connect the US to Singapore.
Echo’s subsea system is a unique express route connecting California, Jakarta, Singapore, and Guam. The system creates a new path and offers low latency, high-speed, resilient network infrastructure connecting South Asia to the US.
The first Echo segments (Guam-US) will launch in mid-2024, with the remaining segments in 2025. Telstra will become TPN’s operating partner to provide secure, long-term stability on an efficient route. In addition, Telstra will be delivering cable landing station services for Echo in Singapore and the Network Operations Centre services. XL Axiata is landing the cable in Indonesia and our partner for delivering services into Indonesia.
Telstra International CEO said the geographical area the new cable would be built in was one of the more challenging regions globally in terms of regulation as well as subsea cable cuts.
“Our subsea network scale makes Telstra International uniquely placed to successfully navigate the complexity of these environments to ensure the stability of the world’s digital connectivity,” said Roary Stasko, CEO Telstra International. "We’re accelerating growth in our international digital infrastructure with investments in subsea fibre capacity on unique, diverse routes - helping to move more traffic around the world and strengthening connections from Asia to the US. Echo’s cable system has the ability to allow other countries to take advantage of its redundancy. In addition, we’ve recently added 3Tbps of capacity through the SEA-US cable connecting US mainland to Hawaii, Guam and Philippines which complements our existing Trans-Pacific cables like AAG, UNITY, FASTER, NCP and JUPITER."
- The Echo system will have 12 fiber pairs with a capacity of 12 terabits per second (Tbps) each. Ownership and Services: Facebook and Google share ownership interests in the cable system, with Facebook owning 8 of the 12 fiber pairs landing at Piti and Google owning 8 of the 12 fiber pairs landing at Agat.
- Telstra International and TPN are responsible for co-building and operating the cable, with Telstra also providing cable landing station services in Singapore and network operations center services.
Facebook and Google collaborate on U.S.-Guam-Singapore cable
Facebook and Google are lead investors in a new subsea cable from Eureka, California to Singapore, with a stop-over in Guam.
The Echo subsea cable will be the first to directly connect the U.S. to Singapore with direct fiber pairs over an express route. The cable is expected to have landings in Indonesia and possibly other locations.
In a blog posting, Google said Echo's unique route to Southeast Asia will avoid the crowded, traditional paths to the north. The cable is expected to be ready for service in 2023.
https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/infrastructure/introducing-the-echo-subsea-cable
https://engineering.fb.com/2021/03/28/connectivity/echo-bifrost/
