wiredInUSA November 2019

Safety certified

Cross cable construction

The Southern Cross NEXT project has achieved CIF (contract in force) status and has entered its construction phase. The four fiber-pair undersea route utilizes an open cable design and is intended to enhance the existing Southern Cross system. The system will provide full fiber connectivity to Auckland, New Zealand, and will incorporate branching units and optical add-drop multiplexer technology for connections to Fiji, Tokelau and Kiribati. Alcatel Submarine Networks will build the 16,148km cable that Southern Cross believes will have the lowest latency between Australasia and the US. Developed at a network investment of around $300 million, it is designed to carry 72Tb per secondwhen completed at the end of 2021 or early 2022. Enterprise group executive of Telstra Michael Ebeid said: “With 80 percent of all the Internet traffic to Australia coming from the US, a high-speed, low-latency direct route to North America is a very important investment for our business and our customers. Southern Cross builds on our existing footprint across Asia Pacific where we carry 30 percent of the region’s active capacity.” Telstra has recently gained a quarter share of the Southern Cross cable network.

Image: LS C&S The Korean government has awarded disaster safety product certification to LS Cable & System (LS C&S) for its fire-resistant cables. The company said the certification shows its products will continue to function and carry power in the event of a fire, while emitting less smoke and toxic fumes than other products. “The high durability of a cable is essential in case of fire so that it can deliver power to operate fire alarms, sprinklers, ventilators, emergency lights and evacuation facilities,” the company said. Using eco-friendly materials, LS C&S cables are said to emit less smoke, cut emissions of carbon monoxide and hydrogen chloride by over 90 percent, and be capable of withstanding temperatures of 950ºC for up to 180 minutes.

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wiredInUSA November 2019