SYDNEY ��Southern Cross Cablesand EGS are to begin surveying the route of the $350 million Southern Cross NEXT undersea cable project, set to be completed in 2019. NEXT is set to deliver the highest capacity and lowest latency internet connection for Australians accessing US-based internet apps, providing an additional 60Tbps of capacity for customers, reportscapacitymedia.com.
�There�s a common belief internet connections in Australia are ultimately provided by satellites � that�s wrong. Australia is connected to the global internet via thousands of kilometers of undersea cables,� said Anthony Briscoe, president and CEO of Southern Cross Cable Network.
Now Southern Cross Cables has two high capacity subsea cables with 20 Tbps of capacity. EGS, a global specialist multi-disciplinary marine survey firm, will undertake the survey of the NEXT route, which has been designed to provide �the quickest path between mainland United States, Australia and New Zealand,� a company statement read. It will map more than 12,500km of the seabed from Sydney, Auckland to Los Angeles. Several Pacific Island countries are on the route and the Tonga Trench, the second-deepest point on Earth with a depth of 35,703 feet, will also be surveyed.
The marine survey vessel, EGS� Geo Resolution, will depart from Glebe Island, Rozelle, to begin the survey off Clovelly. It will be at sea for up to eight weeks at a time. Geo Resolution is a rare craft: It started life as a US Navy vessel that trailed submarines around to test how stealthy, or otherwise, they were. New Zealand�s Navy picked her up later, and used her for marine surveys before she ended up with EGS, according to theregister.co.uk.
You can learn about Geo Resolution, and how EGS surveys the routes, by checking out this video.�
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