Indonesia and Australia linked by fiber optic cable
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)