DIGITAL INSFRASTRUCTURE IN AUSTRALIA

In today’s world securing ones business and national security has become a requirement which is however difficult to achieve over internet traffic. Nevertheless, Australia is so strategically positioned in what we call as digital corridor which connects two or more ecosystems of related companies or industries across the regions for partnering, collaboration and the exchange of data to drive business value, so as to lead in this area. Australia is considered one of the best places to develop digital technology with a tech sector of  $167 billion along with a growth of 80% within five years which is supported by strong regulations, public investment and innovation incentives. Australia’s tech industry is projected to contribute $250 billion to the economy by 2030.

Australia being in an uniquely strategic position is highly preferred to develop digital technologies by people willing to invest in this area. The country offers generous incentives and funding pools to grow the private venture capital market along with tax offsets, and supportive central, state and territorial government to support the tech sector. The sector is growing by an average of 16% per annum and is predicted to contribute $250 billion to the Australian economy by 2030.  

The Australian Government is committed to ensuring its Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) remain relevant and beneficial for businesses, with a strong focus on digital trade provisions. Key objectives in these agreements include tariff reductions on technological inputs, rules supporting digital business investors, and various measures to facilitate digital trade. These measures encompass transparency in e-commerce regulations, paperless trading, electronic authentication, and online consumer and privacy protection. They also aim to prohibit data localization requirements, support cross-border data flows, eliminate customs duties on electronic transmissions, and promote cooperation on cybersecurity.

There are several agreements and investment which has been entered by Australia in pursuit of enhancing its digital reach and cooperation. By adopting frameworks consistent with international standards, such as the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce, Australia seeks to enhance the efficiency and security of digital transactions.

SOUTHERN CROSS NEXT

This investment was introduced in 2022 which has proved to be efficient in improving the connectivity across the Pacific. This network offers direct, low-latency connectivity between Sydney and Los Angeles, with an additional landing site in New Zealand. It was designed to provide extra capacity along the same transpacific route as the original Southern Cross Cable Network (SCCN), established in 2000, and the Hawaiki cable, which connects Sydney to Hillsboro, Oregon. The increasing demand for cloud services, digital media, content, and e-commerce capabilities underscores the need for additional capacity between Australia and the U.S., highlighting the maturation of Australia’s digital economy. With the combined infrastructure of the SCCN, the Hawaiki cable, and the new Southern Cross NEXT route, organizations now have multiple options for transferring digital traffic between the two countries. This enhances optimal traffic balancing and redundancy, allowing digital ecosystems in both nations to exchange traffic quickly and reliably, thereby tightly integrating their digital economies.

The NEXT cable supports Southern Cross’s ongoing mission to enable reliable connectivity between Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, and the rest of the world. It will provide the first international submarine fiber connections to Tokelau and Kiribati and reinforce Fiji’s role as a growing digital hub for the Pacific Islands. Consisting of three diverse submarine cable routes, more than 20 access points, and over 43,000 km, the Southern Cross ecosystem will support high-capacity and low-latency routes between Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tokelau, Kiribati, Hawaii, and the United States West Coast.

Completed in just over two years during the global pandemic, the NEXT cable will become the third route in the Southern Cross network ecosystem between Australasia and the USA. It will boost the ecosystem’s capacity by approximately 500 percent, to around 100 terabits per second. To put this in perspective, this capacity would allow the transfer of the half petabyte of data generated from approximately 7,500 F1 2022 car wind-tunnel model tests in 111 seconds, or just over 300 seconds to transfer the estimated 10 billion photos on Facebook.

ABOUT SOUTHERN CROSS

Southern Cross Cables Ltd (“SCCL”) is a leading independent Australasian supplier of international capacity to carriers and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific region. SCCL was originally formed in 1997 to establish the Southern Cross Cable Network, a twin submarine cable link between Australasia and the United States West Coast. Current shareholders are Spark, Singtel Optus, Verizon, and Telstra.

The Southern Cross Cable Network is designed to provide enhanced reliability, quality, and network efficiency and is the only independent submarine capacity provider of fully protected connectivity solutions out of New Zealand.

CONCLUSION

Securing business and national security online is challenging, but Australia is strategically positioned within a digital corridor connecting companies for collaboration and data exchange. With a tech sector valued at $167 billion and expected to grow 80% in five years, Australia is ideal for digital technology development, projected to contribute $250 billion to the economy by 2030. Government support includes strong regulations, public investment, and innovation incentives, along with a focus on digital trade provisions in Free Trade Agreements.

The Southern Cross NEXT cable, launched in 2022, enhances Pacific connectivity, providing direct, low-latency links between Sydney and Los Angeles. It meets growing demand for cloud services and e-commerce, boosting the integration of digital economies between Australia and the U.S. The Southern Cross ecosystem supports high-capacity, low-latency routes across Australasia, the Pacific Islands, and the U.S. West Coast, increasing network capacity by 500%.