Artist impression of landing station Credit: Sunshine Coast Council

Vertiv has won a $6.6 million contract to build a landing station for the Sunshine Coast International Broadband Submarine Cable.

The infrastructure specialist will design and construct the station, which will host an undersea fibre optic cable connecting the Sunshine Coast to the 9600km Japan-Guam-Australia South (JGA-S) submarine cable.

Work on the station is expected to begin in January and be completed by June next year.

According to Sunshine Coast Council, Vertiv has committed to using local contractors throughout the project.

Based in Maroochydore, the station will house the terrestrial connection point for the cable with land-side networks and will be able to accommodate up to four further submarine cables.

The council has already set aside $35 million for the Sunshine Coast International Broadband Submarine Cable project, which includes a 550km line to the JGA-S cable. Of that funding, $15 million came from Queensland Government’s Jobs and Regional Growth Fund.



According to the council, the project will deliver up to 864 new jobs and stimulate $927 million in new investment in Queensland.

“The importance of investing in the right internet infrastructure cannot be overstated, particularly as we enter a new era of IoT and smart cities, where reliable connectivity will be paramount to all aspects of our daily lives,” said Robert Linsdell, managing director at Vertiv A/NZ.

To build the 550km cable link to the JGA-S, the council has already partnered with RTI Connectivity, which alongside AARNet and Google, will deliver the JGA-S as well.

As reported by Computerworld, the cable will land at Sydney and Piti, Guam, and will then interconnect with JGA North (JGA-N), which will also land in Minami-Boso, Japan. It will also connect to SEA-US, which stretches from Indonesia and the Philippines through Guam to Oahu in Hawaii and Los Angeles in California.

Installation of the submarine cable is being overseen by Alcatel Submarine Network (ASN) and is expected to be completed by the first half of 2020.