Telstra to lay optic cable

Telstra to lay optic cable

SYDNEY (Reuter): Australia's two major telecommunications
companies, Telstra Corp and Optus, said yesterday they were about
to begin laying an optical fiber cable between Australia and
Indonesia.

The companies said the cable would be Australia's first direct
optical fiber link with Asia.

JASURAUS, a joint venture between Telstra, with 69 percent,
and Optus Networks Pty Ltd with 31 percent, said it and
Indonesian telecommunications carrier PT Indosat would provide
Australian companies and consumers with direct superhighway links
to all Asian destinations, the joint venturers said.

The cable is being laid under a A$120 million contract by
Cable and Wireless Plc vessel the Cable Innovator between Jakarta
and the coastal town of Port Headland in Western Australia.