Inligo Networks is pleased to announce it has commenced development of its Open Cable Landing Station in Darwin Australia. The development was foreshadowed at Submarine Networks World in 2023 where the company during a panel session outlined key reasons why landing international cables into Darwin was important for both Asia and Australia and its intention to commence works on the project.
A recent article by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute highlights the strategic importance of connecting Darwin via international cable systems and Inligo’s Cable Landing Station development will assist in facilitating those outcomes.
“To help strengthen the defence ecosystem, the territory government is investing in and supporting a range of initiatives that will also be useful to the forces of Japan, the United States and others when operating in the Top End.
An example is the Inligo Networks ACC-1 project. This is a network of cable connections across the Indo-Pacific that bypass the congested cable network in the South China Sea. Key nodes will include Guam, continental United States, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia and East Timor, all connected to a landing station in Darwin. This will be particularly important to militaries operating in the Northern Territory.” – Australian Strategic Policy Institute
In June 2024, Inligo Networks, with the assistance of the Northern Territory Government, completed acquisition of suitable land in Fannie Bay located within proximity to the proposed Asia Connect Cable landing point beach manhole (BMH). The agreement completed mid year provides the necessary land capacity to begin the construction and subsequent operation of an Open Cable Landing Station for Northern Australia.
The cable landing station design provides for capacity to locate subsea cable termination equipment (SLTE), subsea cable power systems (PFE), and transmission equipment for connecting to domestic networks including the Unite Cable System.
The Unite Cable System was recently granted Northern Territory Government Major Project Status providing important government support for the project linking the Northern Territory to South Australia and onward to eastern states with a new high capacity optimised fibre cable system to meet the needs of organisations landing subsea capacity into Darwin.
“The Cable Landing Station will deliver important infrastructure and services to Northern Australia supporting the landing of international subsea cables into Darwin. With the addition of Unite, a direct low latency terrestrial pathway from the Darwin international segments to users and facilities in the Territory and southern states will become possible. Darwin will be well established to encourage the development and eventual delivery of international capacity into Australia avoiding existing longer path routes to Asia.” stated Ken Michael, Chief Operating Officer of Inligo.
The company expects the development and construction of the facility to take approximately 18 months and be ready for service in the second half of 2026.
ENDS