Vocus, Australia’s specialist fibre and network solutions provider, today announced that it will work with Telstra to upgrade mobile connectivity on Christmas Island by providing high-capacity connectivity to Australia via the Australia Singapore Cable (ASC).

The 4,600km, 60 Terabits per second cable provides the sole submarine cable connection between Australia and Christmas Island. ASC will provide high-capacity backhaul to Telstra, replacing existing satellite backhaul as Telstra expands and upgrades its 2G mobile network to 4GX technology.

The project was awarded funding under the Commonwealth Government’s Regional Connectivity Program, as announced by Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia, The Hon David Littleproud MP and Minister for Regionalisation, Regional Communications and Regional Education, Senator the Hon Bridget McKenzie.

Vocus provided a $2.5m in-kind contribution to the project in the form of access to services on ASC and Telstra provided a $2.5m co-contribution, with the remainder funded by the Commonwealth Government.

“This is a great outcome for residents, businesses, and tourists on Christmas Island who will have access to fast and reliable mobile services comparable to the Australian mainland,” said Vocus CEO Kevin Russell.

“Vocus provides secure, high-capacity, low-latency connectivity to a range of business and government customers on Christmas Island via the Australia Singapore Cable, and we look forward to working with Telstra to continue to utilise this asset to improve mobile services on the island.”

ASC is Australia’s most advanced, high-capacity, and low-latency submarine fibre cable system stretching between Perth and Singapore, with branches to Christmas Island and Jakarta, Indonesia.

Vocus is currently deploying Project Highclere, a $100 million 1,000km submarine cable connection between the Australia Singapore Cable and the North-West Cable System (NWCS), which stretches from Port Hedland to Darwin. This connection will be the final piece in establishing the Darwin-Jakarta-Singapore Cable system, a $500m ecosystem of cables connecting Darwin, Port Hedland, Perth, Christmas Island, Jakarta, and Singapore.