Indonesia and Australia linked by fiber optic cable
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia and Australia have been linked by a 2,800-kilometer submarine fiber optic cable that will improve telecommunications and broadcasting services between the two countries.
The cable network, called Jasuraus, can carry at least 60,000 telephone conversations or 125 broadcast quality television or Cable TV channels simultaneously.
The network, built by Alcatel, operates at 5 gigabit a fiber pair and will meet the rapidly increasing demand for international calls, supporting new and emerging services and cater to the growth of the Internet, data and multimedia.
The facility was launched yesterday by the ministry of tourism, post and telecommunications secretary-general, Jonathan L. Parapak, in Jakarta, and by Australia's minister for communications and the arts, Senator Richard Alston, in Sydney through a video teleconference using the new system.
Parapak was at state-owned international telecommunications carrier PT Indosat's headquarters in Jakarta.
Besides the Jasuraus network, Parapak inaugurated two other submarine cable systems which Indosat was involved in -- the Jakarta-Surabaya system and the Asia Pacific Cable Network (APCN).
Parapak held teleconferences with Indonesia's Ambassador in Tokyo Wisber Luis, and with East Java's deputy governor, Suprapto, in Surabaya.
Parapak said it was an historic day for Indosat and for Indonesia and Australia.
"While meetings were taking place to promote cooperation in our region, we leapfrogged and built the systems we are inaugurating today. While experts were preaching about the advent of the global information society, we did not wait, but took action to build systems that are now the building blocks of the global information superhighways."
Parapak said Indonesia and Australia were two of the major players in the Asia-Pacific.
"As we move into the 21st century, the development of global information infrastructure will determine our competitiveness in the globalized economy."
He said the availability of the three networks would facilitate tourism, trade and investment between Indonesia and Australia.
"They will enhance cooperation and better understanding between our two peoples," he said.
25 years
The three submarine cable networks, each with a design life of 25 years, cost $772.5 million.
The A$156.9 million (US$122.19 million) Jasuraus cable was pioneered by a consortium of Indosat and Australia's Telstra Corp and Optus Communications.
Work on Jasuraus began in January 1995 and was completed last October.
The cable network links Australia (Port Headland in Western Australia) and Jakarta (land terminal in Ancol, North Jakarta), and is part of the APCN, the largest single optical fiber network in the Asia-Pacific.
The $602.5 million APCN can handle 786,240 phone calls simultaneously and will include other services like Internet services, video-conferencing and television transmission.
The 12,082-kilometer APCN groups 56 international telecommunications operators from 27 nations. The system links Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.
Indosat has 6.42 percent, worth $42 million, of APCN.
The Jakarta-Surabaya system, worth $47.8 million, is also part of APCN. The system is 55.9 percent owned by Indosat, 19.32 percent by PT Telkomsel, 6.44 percent by PT Lintasarta and 19.32 percent by PT Satelindo.
Indosat's president, Tjahjono Soerjodibroto, said yesterday Indosat was also involved in the $1.3 billion SEA-ME-WE 3 cable network linking the Pacific Rim, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
The 38,000-kilometer SEA-ME-WE 3, to be completed in 1998, will be the world's longest and largest capacity submarine cable. Indosat will invest $48 million in this system. (icn)