Jakarta, Singapore, Sydney, 25 January 2019 – AARNet, Google, Indosat Ooredoo, Singtel, SubPartners and Telstra today announced a significant milestone in the implementation of the INDIGO subsea cable system with the completion, on schedule, of the final splicing of both the INDIGO West cable and Indigo Central cable.

This marks the completion of the marine installation of both the 4600km Singapore to Perth INDIGO West submarine cable and 4600km Perth to Sydney INDIGO Central submarine cable.

Commissioning of the submarine cable system has now began, with the INDIGO cable system on-schedule and on-track to be ready for service before mid-2019.

This milestone follows the announcement in April 2017 that the consortium had entered into an agreement with Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) to build the INDIGO cable system connecting Singapore, Perth and Sydney, with two additional fibre pairs connecting Singapore and Jakarta via a branching unit.

The 9,200km INDIGO cable system will strengthen links between Australia and the fast-growing South East Asian markets, providing lower latency and enhanced reliability. Using today’s coherent optical technology, the cable’s two-fibre pairs will be able to support up to 36 terabits per second, the equivalent of simultaneously streaming millions of movies a second.

The INDIGO cable system will utilise new spectrum sharing technology so each consortium member will have the ability to independently take advantage of technology advancements for future upgrades and capacity increases on demand.

Telstra’s Head of International Oliver Camplin-Warner said: “The INDIGO West cable will connect to Telstra’s extensive terrestrial network to provide onward connectivity around Australia. Once complete, the cable system will strengthen links between Australia and fast-growing South East Asian markets by providing faster speeds and dramatically improved reliability. Our vast subsea network is a key part of our international growth strategy and we will continue to invest in additional capacity to meet the increasing demand for data and maintain our network leadership in the Asia-Pacific region.”

AARNet’s CEO Chris Hancock said: “This is an exciting time for AARNet. INDIGO is the first in a number of significant investments for research and education in Australia. INDIGO will provide the underpinning critical infrastructure to meet the future growth in collaborative research and transnational education between Australia and our important Asian partners.”

Singtel’s Vice President, Carrier Services, Group Enterprise Ooi Seng Keat said: “The completion of the INDIGO cable system heralds a new era of high speed communications between the growing economies of Southeast Asia and Australia. This new data superhighway will complement our existing global links to Asia, US, Europe, Australia and the Middle East, allowing Singtel and Optus to meet the growing demand for bandwidth-intensive applications which is expected to quadruple by 2025. Our investments in new subsea cable systems like INDIGO will boost our network diversity and resilience, further reinforcing our position as a leading provider of international connectivity and data services.”

Drew Kelton, Chief Executive Officer, Superloop on behalf of SubPartners, said: “The demand for INDIGO is now apparent, with Superloop already signing on NextDC for access to INDIGO for both of its Perth (P1 and P2) and Sydney (S1 and S2) data centres. Superloop is on a journey to interconnect and virtualise businesses across the Asia Pacific region, and the go-live of INDIGO will accelerate that plan significantly.”

Dejan Kastelic, Chief Technology and Information Officer Indosat Ooredoo said: “The completion of INDIGO submarine cable is part of our ambitious three-year program to transform our network to achieve best customer experience. When it is in service it will further diversify our international connections across Australia and fast-growing South East Asian market, serving ever-increasing demand for data traffic and expanding opportunities for retail consumers and corporate services. It also supports our vision to be leading digital telecommunication company by providing world-class data connectivity and internet access.”

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AARNet media contact: Jane Gifford, media@aarnet.edu.au, +61 2 9779 6960

Indosat Ooredoo media contact: Turina Farouk, turina.farouk@indosatooredoo.com, +62 +815 1010 8000

Singtel media contact: Sonny Phua, sonnyphua@singtel.com, +65 6838 6527

SubPartners media contact: Wendy Hill (Sapphire Communications), wendy@sapphirecommunications.com.au, +61 427 173 203

Telstra media contact: Steve Carey, media@team.telstra.com, +61 413 988 640 (ref number: 007/2019)

Google media contact: Rebecca Wong, wongrebecca@google.com, +65 9841 9766

About AARNet

Australia’s Academic and Research Network (AARNet) provides high capacity national and international telecommunications infrastructure and collaboration services for the nation’s research and education sector, including universities, health and other research organisations, schools, vocational training providers and cultural institutions. AARNet serves over one million end users who access the network for teaching, learning and research. For more information, visit www.aarnet.edu.au.

About Indosat Ooredoo

Indosat Ooredoo (IDX:ISAT), member of Ooredoo Group, is building Indonesia’s leading digital telco, enabling access and greater connectivity for everybody and every business. Focusing on human growth, Indosat Ooredoo aspires to enrich the lives of Indonesians in the digital world and proactively offer solutions to fulfill their needs. For more information, visit http://www.indosatooredoo.com

About Singtel

Singtel is Asia’s leading communications technology group, providing a portfolio of services from next-generation communication, technology services to infotainment to both consumers and businesses. For consumers, Singtel delivers a complete and integrated suite of services, including mobile, broadband and TV. For businesses, Singtel offers a complementary array of workforce mobility solutions, data hosting, cloud, network infrastructure, analytics and cyber-security capabilities. The Group has presence in Asia, Australia and Africa and reaches over 700 million mobile customers in 21 countries. Its infrastructure and technology services for businesses span 21 countries, with more than 428 direct points of presence in 362 cities. For more information, visit www.singtel.com. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SingtelNews.

Optus is the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Singtel Group and services over ten million customers each day. It provides a broad range of communications services including mobile, telephony, business network services, internet and satellite services and subscription television. For more information, please visit www.optus.com.au.

About SubPartners

SubPartners develops high performance, secure international cable systems capable of providing improved connectivity between Australia and the rest of the world. SubPartners is part of Superloop (ASX:SLC) – a leading provider of connectivity and managed services in Australia and the Asia Pacific. Superloop owns and operates over 670 km of carrier-grade metropolitan fibre networks in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong, connecting more than 275 strategic sites in the region.

INDIGO West and INDIGO Central provides Superloop with the basis for connectivity between its existing metropolitan networks and further expansion into Asia, creating a fully meshed, pan-Asian network to meet growing customer demand across the region. Through the ability to swap capacity, for access to other international cable systems, it will also open up access to new markets and customers. Visit www.subpartners.net or www.superloop.com

About Telstra

Telstra is a leading telecommunications and technology company. We offer a full range of services and compete in all telecommunications markets in Australia, operating the largest mobile and Wi-Fi networks. Globally, we provide end-to-end solutions including managed network services, global connectivity, cloud, voice, colocation, conferencing and satellite solutions. We have licenses in Asia, Europe and the United States and offer access to more than 2,000 points of presence across the globe. For more information visit www.telstra.com.