Vocus has revealed it has reached agreements with some of the key suppliers and construction partners of its Project Horizon fibre backbone network in Western Australia.
Project Horizon is a 2000km high-capacity fibre link connecting Geraldton and Port Hedland in Western Australia, which aims to connect Vocus’ North West Cable System and its terrestrial network. The project is Vocus’ first major project under its announced $1 billion investment program.
Vocus has chosen national telecommunications, ICT and energy infrastructure construction and maintenance provider Mirait Technologies Australia to provide design and construction services for the project, while India-headquartered digital network integrator Sterlite Technologies (STL) will provide optical fibre cables.
Critical infrastructure vendor Vertiv was also contracted to provide Controlled Environment Vaults (CEVs) to house telecommunications hardware along the route, while fibre optic solutions company Channell will provide rural and urban pits, as well as joint enclosures, to the network.
Melbourne-based structured cabling specialist Codecom will provide marker posts, while construction supply company Tapex Industrial - through excavation safety division Dig Safe - will provide detectable warning tape.
“Vocus is undertaking the largest investment program in our company’s history, and Project Horizon is on schedule to begin deployment before the end of the year,” Vocus chief executive Kevin Russell said.
“When complete, Project Horizon will establish a new 2,000km, 38 Terabit-per-second fibre route through Australia’s resources region, closing the final gap in our national fibre backbone connecting all mainland capitals. Horizon will also interconnect with two high-capacity submarine cables in Port Hedland – establishing Australia’s north as a new hub for domestic and international data.”
Vocus is also in the final stages of a tender process for an optical network equipment supplier, which the telco expects to be finalised later this month.
The company added the first section of fibre optic cable has now been delivered and currently housed in a Perth facility ahead of the deployment.