SMAP Cable Marks a Historic Leap in Australia’s Data Capacity
Subco announced that the SMAP subsea hypercable is making a lot of progress in construction. This will strengthen Australia’s digital backbone between its major cities. The project is one of the most ambitious upgrades to connectivity that has been done on the continent in decades.
The last splice on the Perth–Adelaide–Melbourne segment will happen in January 2026, and customer service will start in March. Completion milestones show that work is being done steadily in difficult environments across continents and with complicated subsea engineering needs.
Source: SUBCO
Timeline Confirms Full SMAP System Readiness by Mid-2026
As planned, Subco confirmed that the Melbourne–Sydney segment will finish its final splice in March 2026. The whole SMAP system should be ready for business by May 2026.
These milestones make SMAP a good choice for meeting the growing demand from cloud, AI workloads, and hyperscale growth in the near future. Customers can be sure about when their deliveries will arrive, which is important for planning and investing in infrastructure over the long term.
Unprecedented Scale Delivers Australia’s Largest Upgrade in Decades
When it’s done, SMAP will be the biggest expansion of Australia’s transcontinental capacity in almost 25 years. The system has sixteen fiber pairs and can hold more than 400 terabits of data.
Direct east-west connectivity gives Australia’s main digital markets performance, redundancy, and resilience that has never been seen before. This architecture makes things faster, more reliable, and better at protecting national data sovereignty.
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Strategic Subsea Acquisitions Enhance Resilience Beyond SMAP
Subco also announced more subsea capacity acquisitions to make national digital corridors even stronger, in addition to SMAP. These investments add routing diversity and protect against the risks of relying on a single system.
Subco got more than 100 terabits per second of different subsea capacity for another Sydney–Melbourne–Perth system that will be built soon. This extra route makes the system much more resilient and helps meet long-term traffic growth needs.
Terrestrial Investments Deliver Low-Latency Protected Pathways
Subco also got twelve terabits of very secure land-based capacity between Sydney and Melbourne, which will go live in March 2026. This low-latency route makes SMAP and the new subsea systems safer.
The investment makes it possible for Australia’s most important digital hubs and data center ecosystems to connect with each other in three ways, all with high capacity. It makes it easier for hyperscalers, businesses, and carriers that depend on mission-critical services to keep running.
Indigo Central Expansion Strengthens East-West Express Connectivity
Subco bought another quarter fiber pair on the Indigo Central cable system, which helped it grow even more. This means that Subco now has the same amount of capacity on the strategic Indigo Central route as the other largest owner.
The acquisition gives Perth and Sydney more than thirteen terabits of direct express capacity. It gives customers who need consistent east-west performance more options for routes, flexibility, and scalability.
Laying the Groundwork for a Strong Digital Future in Australia
These investments, when put together, create a multi-layered connectivity framework that connects both underwater and land-based assets across the country. Subco’s plan focuses on scale, redundancy, and performance in Australia’s most important digital corridors.
As more people use the cloud, artificial intelligence, and data-heavy industries, SMAP and other assets will help build infrastructure that is ready for the future. The portfolio puts Subco at the center of Australia’s growing digital economy.
