Christmas Island, Australia's Indian Ocean Territory, will be connected to Darwin in the north by a subsea cable. The project is backed by Alphabet and Australia claims it will increase its digital resilience.

Christmas Island, located 1,500 km west of Australia's mainland and with only 1,250 residents, is strategically situated in the Indian Ocean 350 km from Jakarta.

The announcement was made as both the Australian and U.S. military upgraded airfields to be used by a rotating force consisting of U.S. marines, who will be joined next year by Japanese troops.

Brian Quigley is Google's vice-president of global network infrastructure. He said that the Bosun Cable will link Darwin with Christmas Island. Another subsea cables will connect Melbourne, on Australia's eastern coast, to Perth on the west coast, and then to Christmas Island.

Australia wants to reduce its digital disruption exposure by building more submarine cable pathways through the South Pacific and Asia towards the west.

The Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said in a press release that the new cable systems would not only strengthen and expand Australia's digital connectivity, but also provide new and diverse routes. They will also complement Government's work with partners and industry to ensure secure, reliable and resilient connectivity throughout the Pacific.

Other partners include the Australian data centre company NextDC and Macquarie-backed telecommunications firm Vocus.

Subco has built an Indian Ocean cable that runs from Perth to Oman, with spurs going to Diego Garcia (the U.S. base), and Cocos Islands where Australia is upgrading the runway for defence surveillance planes.

Christmas Island, located 900 kilometers (560 miles), is considered a neighbour to the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean. The Australian Defence Force says that this is important for its maritime surveillance activities, as China has increased submarine activity in this region.

The new cables are also linked to a Pacific Islands Network being built by Google, and jointly funded and supported by the United States. This network connects the United States and Australia via hubs in Fiji or French Polynesia.

Vocus announced in a press release that the two networks would form the largest submarine cable network in the world, spanning over 42,500 km between the U.S.A. and Asia through Australia. (Reporting and editing by Lincoln Feast in Sydney. Kirsty needham is based in Sydney.

(source: Reuters)