The CommsDay Wholesale Congress brought together Australia’s telecommunications wholesale sector to discuss infrastructure investment, network resilience, international connectivity and the growing demand for high-capacity digital networks.
Inligo Networks and AFL – Unite Cable System
A notable presentation featured Inligo Networks and AFL, with Ken Michael and Andrew Clark presenting an update of the Unite Cable System, a terrestrial fibre infrastructure project currently underway and being delivered in stages.
The network is designed to connect Darwin with Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney, linking major centres and regional communities across Australia. It will also connect with Inligo’s Asia Connect subsea cable system at Darwin, combining domestic fibre infrastructure with international connectivity.
AFL has been appointed Inligo’s primary cable manufacturing partner, supporting the supply of the physical fibre infrastructure.
Foundational social licensing and community investment
An important consideration raised in the context of the presentation was the need to establish foundational social licensing along the cable route through Central Australia.
Given the scale of the infrastructure and its passage through regional and remote communities, social license should extend beyond stakeholder consultation to include meaningful, long-term investment in social programmes that deliver tangible benefits to the communities along the route.
The underlying principle is that a social license should be built through genuine partnerships, sustained engagement and demonstrable community benefits. Investment in social programmes can help establish trust, create shared value and build a stronger foundation for the project’s long-term presence across Central Australia.
Strategic significance
The Unite Cable System will strengthen Australia’s telecommunications backbone, provide additional high-capacity routing options and support growing demand from data centres, AI factories, hyperscalers, cloud services and other bandwidth-intensive applications.
However, successful delivery involves more than the physical network. Establishing social license through meaningful community investment can help align the project’s infrastructure objectives with regional development priorities and create a legacy that extends beyond telecommunications connectivity.
The presentation highlighted the strategic importance of the Unite Cable System as both a major telecommunications infrastructure initiative and an opportunity to deliver lasting regional benefits. Foundational social license, supported by investment in social programmes and meaningful partnerships with communities along the Central Australian route, should be considered an important component of the any projects long-term success.