The Australia Singapore Cable (ASC) is a 4,600 km fibre-optic

submarine communications cable A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea. The first submarine communications cables laid beginning in the 1850s carried tel ...

that entered service in September 2018, linking

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

via Christmas Island and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. ASC is owned and operated by

Vocus Communications Vocus Group Limited, formerly known as Vocus Communications, is an international telecommunications company headquartered in North Sydney, Australia. Founded by James Spenceley as a wholesale, business, government and consumer telecommunicatio ...

and interconnects with the Vocus Australian domestic

optical fibre An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means to ...

network at the Australian landing site in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. The ASC consists of four fibre pairs and, at launch, had a total design capacity of 40 terabits per second. In 2019 the cable was upgraded to a total design capacity of 60 terabits per second. In 2021, the cable was damaged after a ship that is operated by

Maersk (), also known simply as Maersk (), is a Danish shipping company, active in ocean and inland freight transportation and associated services, such as supply chain management and port operation. Maersk was the largest container shipping line a ...

caught a portion of the cable with its anchor, disrupting Perth operations. The captain of the ship has been detained by the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. Th ...

. Normal operations have also resumed after repairs were made.

Landing points

, Western Australia #

Flying Fish Cove Flying Fish Cove ( zh, 飛魚灣, ms, Pantai Ikan Terbang) is the capital city and main settlement of Australia's Christmas Island. Although it was originally named after British survey-ship '' Flying-Fish'', many maps simply label it "The Set ...

, Christmas Island #

Anyer Anyer, also known as Anjer or Angier, is a coastal town in Banten, formerly West Java, Indonesia, west of Jakarta and south of Merak. A significant coastal town late 18th-century, Anyer faces the Sunda Strait. History The town was a consider ...

, Indonesia # Tanah Merah, Singapore

References

Submarine communications cables in the Indian Ocean Australia–Singapore relations 2018 establishments in Australia 2018 establishments in Indonesia 2018 establishments in Singapore {{telecommunications-stub

Landing points

See also

References