Brisbane, Australia – 24 September 2026 – SUBCO today announced that APX East, its express submarine hypercable between Sydney, Australia and California in the U.S., has reached Contract in Force (CIF).
"Reaching CIF isn't just a milestone for APX East – it's a statement about Australia's place in the global AI race," said Bevan Slattery, Founder & Co-CEO of SUBCO. "Between now and 2028, the AI factories landing on our shores will demand international connectivity at a scale this country has never had to deliver. APX East went from concept to public launch, cornerstone customers, funding and executed supply contracts in eight months. That pace reflects the urgency in market demand and the capability of our team to move with it.”
Long-lead items are on order following CIF and full manufacturing commences next month, with completion by July 2027 and first-segment installation out of Sydney in August 2027.
“The team have done an amazing job to prepare a plan of work that we hope to become the fastest transpacific installation in our industry’s history,” said Slattery.
SUBCO further announced that APX East will land at Equinix SY5 in Sydney and Digital Realty’s LA cable landing station (CLS) at their data centre in California.
“We are again delighted to be working with Equinix here in Australia and equally with Digital Realty as our landing partner in California. Their secure landing facility in Los Angeles is purpose-built, and APX East will be the first cable to install there,” said Slattery.
SUBCO has also announced a branching unit will be inserted on APX East for a potential future landing in Fiji, adding redundancy and resilience for the Pacific nation.
"APX East can go express between the U.S. and Australia, but we've decided to include a branch today for the potential benefit of the Pacific region tomorrow," said Slattery.
Once completed APX East will become the lowest latency transpacific route between Australia and the U.S.