With the cooler, wetter weather arriving in Torquay, the final reinstatement activities at Voss Circuit are now complete.

Over the past two weeks, the GORCAPA (Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority) team carried out full area returfing – the last major step in restoring the site following SMAP’s cable landing works. The area will be open for full public use in the coming months.

This marks the end of more than 12 months of coordinated construction and reinstatement activity at Voss Circuit. From trench works through to final landscaping, returning the site to its natural condition has been a priority throughout.

SUBCO would like to again thank GORCAPA for their support, professionalism, and close coordination across every stage of the build and completion phase. With SMAP on track for Ready for Service in June 2026, updates like this mark important progress milestones as the system moves toward commercial operation.

After re-turfing

Before re-turfing

The terrestrial backhaul connecting SMAP’s Melbourne (Torquay) landing to our PoPs is moving fast. We’re now at 92% completion – and the progress made over the couple of months reflects a serious team effort across design, permitting, procurement, and civil works.

The cross-functional team has delivered across every front simultaneously:

• Final designs locked in – confirming the exact cable routing and specifications through the VicTrack rail corridor between Melbourne and Geelong.
• Complex permits secured – working within an active rail corridor means navigating a demanding approvals environment. Those permits are now in hand.
• 47km of cable installed – that’s over 50% of the full cable route, laid within the rail corridor, with civil and installation works progressing at pace.
• Interconnection links completed – the segments linking the rail corridor to our PoPs in both Torquay and Melbourne are already in the ground and done.

Routing backhaul through the VicTrack rail corridor delivers a geographically diverse, protected route that avoids the congestion and risk exposure of existing road-based conduit networks. For a system like SMAP, where route diversity and resilience are design principles, not afterthoughts, this matters.

With over 92% complete and the interconnection links already done, the focus shifts to finishing the remaining cable installation and progressing toward end-to-end testing and full network integration.

SMAP marine installation has hit a landmark milestone with all 59 repeaters now in the water!

With deployment of the final repeater, attention now turns to the final steps of marine installation. Next up is the Branching Unit (BU) integration at Torquay – connecting Melbourne (Torquay) and Sydney via the Torquay East X-BU – followed by the final splice to bring the full subsea route together.

Once marine install wraps and commissioning is completed across all segments, the system will be formally handed over from Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), ready for SUBCO to deploy its transmission equipment and prepare the network for service.

As SMAP moves steadily toward ready for service, SUBCO has announced a significant expansion of data centre access points across Australia’s four major capital cities – giving customers more ways to connect to the domestic and international cable network.

The new locations span Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth, with access now available at:

Sydney

• Equinix SY5 (Primary)
• NextDC S2 (Primary)
• NextDC S1 / S3 / S6
• Equinix SY1 / SY3 / SY4
• AirTrunk SYD2

Melbourne

• Equinix ME2 (Primary)
• NextDC M1 / M3 (Primary)
• CDC BK1 (Primary)

Adelaide

• Equinix AE1 (Primary)
• NextDC A1 (Primary)

Perth

• NextDC P2 (Primary)
• Equinix PE2 / PE3 (Primary)
• NextDC P1

Non-primary locations are extended by dark fibre.

This expansion reflects our commitment to building resilient, diverse infrastructure and something we continue to evolve – meeting customers where it matters to them.

Stay tuned for further updates as we move into the final stages of system completion.

Construction may be finished, but before a system is declared ready for service, every fibre must pass rigorous validation. We’re now conducting final bi-directional Optical Time-Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) testing to ensure the entire span is performing exactly as engineered.

OTDR testing allows us to measure fibre attenuation, splice integrity, and identify any reflections or anomalies along the route. By testing from both ends of the span, we eliminate directional bias and capture the averaged “true” loss for every splice.

This bi-directional approach ensures:

Accurate measurement of splice loss
Verification of overall link attenuation
Detection of any irregularities before service activation
Full compliance with design specifications

The result is a clean, validated fibre path that meets performance expectations.

The final averaged loss figures provide definitive confirmation that the link is ready for live traffic. Every splice point is accounted for, every segment measured, and the entire span characterised end-to-end.

With testing now underway, we’re one step closer to lighting the system and delivering capacity with the confidence that the infrastructure beneath it has been validated to the highest standard.

Stay tuned as we move into the next phase.

Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) has officially commenced segment commissioning on the western portion of SMAP, covering Perth, Adelaide and Torquay West.

In tandem, marine installation works between Sydney and Torquay East have now been completed – a major milestone for the project.

What is segment commissioning?

Segment commissioning is a comprehensive testing and characterisation process that validates the performance and integrity of each section of the system. This includes all fibre pairs, undersea bodies (repeaters and branching units), and station equipment.

Key activities include:

• OTDR and COTDR measurements across all fibre pairs
• OSNR and GOSNR performance measurements
• Electrical characterisation and testing
• Network Management System (NMS) commissioning
• Branching Unit (BU) electrical and optical switch testing
• Repeater interrogation
• Confidence and stability trials

This rigorous process ensures each segment performs to specification before progressing to full system acceptance.

What happens next?

Once commissioning is successfully completed across all segments – and results are thoroughly reviewed to satisfaction – the full SMAP system will be formally handed over from ASN.

From there, SUBCO will deploy its transmission equipment and prepare the network to begin serving customers.

With commissioning now underway and marine installation complete across the remaining route, SMAP continues to move steadily toward RFS.

Progress continues on the terrestrial backhaul infrastructure, with the cable installation into the Torquay CLS now completed. Our teams are currently undertaking cable terminations to prepare for the next stages of network integration. This milestone builds on earlier civil and conduit works and brings us closer to completing the terrestrial links needed for full connectivity.

At the M3 site, the lead‑in conduit connection has been successfully completed. This crucial pathway will accommodate the next segment of cable, scheduled for installation next week, and connects our backhaul infrastructure into the broader terrestrial network.

Across the backhaul network, final splicing activities are in progress. These splices join cable segments to enable continuous and resilient fibre connectivity between key points on the SMAP route.

With installation and splicing advancing, we’re targeting end-to-end testing to commence in the week starting 23 February. This phase will validate connectivity and performance across the terrestrial backhaul links ahead of full network integration.

Stay tuned for further updates as we progress toward final commissioning and deliver next‑generation connectivity across Australia.

SMAP’s Torquay West branching unit (X-BU) has successfully made it into the water, marking another step closer to RFS for Australia’s first hypercable.

The successful install connects Torquay with Adelaide and represents months of planning, coordination, and precision engineering, ensuring the cable is perfectly positioned for its next stage of deployment. The X-BU is a next-generation branching unit that integrates electrical and optical switching into a single wet body for high-fibre systems like SMAP. This reduces deployment complexity and simplifies operations and maintenance. Electrical switching supports flexible powering and fault isolation, while optical switching enables fibre pairs to be selectively added, dropped, or bypassed at the branch.

The final branching unit – Torquay East – connecting Melbourne (Torquay) and Sydney is next, with the final splice to follow.

Stay tuned for further updates.

This week marked a significant milestone for Australia’s digital infrastructure, with the final SMAP cable landing successfully completed at Maroubra.

From the Ile d’Yeu offshore, the SMAP cable was winched through approx 1.2km of horizontal directional drilling (HDD) to the beach manhole at Broadarrow Reserve. The landing is the result of months of planning, collaboration, and coordination, requiring careful consideration of environmental conditions, marine activity, weather, and community impact.

With the cable now safely ashore, SMAP moves into its final phase, bringing Australia one step closer to a new, high-capacity digital backbone connecting the nation.

A big thank you to our project partners, vessel crews, delivery teams, and stakeholders who helped make this milestone possible.

More to come as SMAP nears completion.

VicTrack back haul works along the Melbourne – Geelong rail corridor continues to make progress. Almost 85km of the 87km route has been walked and verified, 81km has now been rod and roped, and 50km of design has been completed and submitted, supporting sequencing and construction planning.

Our delivery partners, CableNet Industries and FTS Resolve, have been working closely with Rail Operations and Safeworking (ROS) as we progress design, construction and safety planning for the backhaul network. Through early collaboration and strong governance, the works are aligned with rail authority requirements to support efficient and compliant high quality submission packs for approval with VicTrack, V/Line, Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) and Metro Trains Melbourne. This ensures alignment with track safety requirements, coordination and technical inputs across fibre, civil and installation disciplines.