Oman Australia Cable

The cable was announced by SUBCO in 2020, with a target completion date in 2021.{{cite press release|title=Oman Australia Cable (OAC) Enters full contract in force status with target completion December 2021|url=https://sub.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/SUBCO.Press_.Release.Release.March_.2020.pdf|location=Brisbane, Australia|date=2020-03-05|access-date=2023-09-02|publisher=SUBCO|language=en}} Manufacturing of the cable was completed by SubCom in January 2021,{{cite press release|title=Oman Australia Cable (OAC) 100% Cable manufactured with marine installation commence in March 2021|url=https://sub.co/press-releases/oman-australia-cable-oac-100-cable-manufactured-with-marine-installation-commence-in-march-2021/|location=Brisbane, Australia|date=2021-01-20|access-date=2023-09-02|publisher=SUBCO|language=en}} with the SubCom cable ships CS Dependable and CS Reliance{{cite news|author=Dan Swinhoe|title=US government paid for secret spur on Oman Australia Cable to Naval base on Diego Garcia island|url=https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/us-government-paid-for-secret-spur-on-oman-australia-cable-to-naval-base-on-diego-garcia-island/|date=2023-07-06|access-date=2023-09-02|publisher=Data Center Dynamics|language=en}} being used for the installation works. The cable made landfall in Perth on 22 July 2021,{{cite press release|title=Australia’s first express cable to EMEA has landed in Perth – On track to go live in Q2 (2022)|url=https://sub.co/press-releases/australias-first-express-cable-to-emea-has-landed-in-perth-on-track-to-go-live-in-q22022-2/|location=Brisbane, Australia|date=2021-07-22|access-date=2023-10-14|publisher=SUBCO|language=en}} with landing station infrastructure in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands also being manufactured and installed during 2021.{{cite press release|title=DXN Limited signs c$1.1M Cable Landing Station Contract|url=https://company-announcements.afr.com/asx/dxn/c0546a41-4953-11eb-ba8c-7ab64016da7f.pdf|date=2020-12-24|access-date=2023-10-14|publisher=DXN Limited|language=en}}{{cite press release|title=DXN Limited signs two contracts with Sub.Co and Solomon Islands Submarine Cable Company (SISCC) for builds worth c$1m|url=https://company-announcements.afr.com/asx/dxn/bc65648a-b11e-11eb-909e-b2015a5b65f5.pdf|date=2021-05-10|access-date=2023-10-14|publisher=DXN Limited|language=en}} Final landing of the cable in Barka, Oman occurred on 28 April 2022.{{cite press release|title=Oman Australia Cable Completes Final Landing in Barka Oman|url=https://www.subcom.com/documents/2022/SUBCO_OAC%20Final_Landing_Press_Release-28APRL2022.pdf|location=Barka, Oman & Brisbane, Australia|date=2022-04-28|access-date=2022-10-01|publisher=Subcom|language=en}}

The cable went live during September 2022,{{cite news|title=Oman-Australia cable lights up|url=https://www.itnews.com.au/news/oman-australia-cable-lights-up-585904|date=2022-09-30|access-date=2022-10-01|publisher=iTNews|language=en}} and was officially switched on by Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister of Australia, during a ceremony in Perth on 24 October 2022.{{cite news|author=Eleanor Dickinson|title=$300M Oman-Australia cable switched on|url=https://www.arnnet.com.au/article/702637/300m-oman-australia-cable-switched/|date=2022-10-24|access-date=2023-09-02|publisher=ARN|language=en}}

In March 2023, SUBCO announced plans to extend the cable with the installation of a diverse 1,200 km spur that would land at Salalah, Oman,{{cite news|author=Matt Ogg|title=Bevan Slattery-led SUBCO launches new cable to connect with Europe, Africa|url=https://www.businessnewsaustralia.com/articles/bevan-slattery-led-subco-launches-new-cable-to-connect-with-europe--africa.html|date=2023-03-07|access-date=2023-09-02|publisher=Business News Australia|language=en}} which is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

In October 2023, the cable was upgraded by Ciena from its original design of 39 Tbit/s to 48 Tbit/s of lit capacity.

The Oman Australia Cable has been interconnected with the INDIGO Central and INDIGO West optical fibre cables at the Australian landing site in Perth. SUBCO and Omantel are expected to extend the reach of the cable with connections from Muscat to London, Milan and Marseille.{{cite news|title=Omantel strengthens partnership with SUBCO|url=https://www.omanobserver.om/article/1120673/business/economy/omantel-strengthens-partnership-with-subco|date=2022-06-12|access-date=2022-10-01|publisher=Oman Daily Observer|language=en}} The cable also includes additional branching units for future spurs that may link to Salalah, Oman and Djibouti City, Djibouti.{{cite news|author=Ry Crozier|title=Bevan Slattery to build new Oman-Australia subsea cable|url=https://www.itnews.com.au/news/bevan-slattery-to-build-new-oman-australia-subsea-cable-532913|date=2019-10-24|access-date=2023-09-02|publisher=iTNews|language=en}}

The cable is notable for providing a diverse international route from Perth, and a lower-latency path between Australia and Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Competing cables such as the Australia Singapore Cable, INDIGO West and SEA-ME-WE 3 all traverse a similar path via the Sunda Strait to Singapore, whereas OAC traverses the Indian Ocean to the south-western coast of Asia.

The cable route is also noted as being similar to another proposed cable known as Australia West Express, which was first announced in May 2015{{cite press release|title=Alcatel-Lucent and GoTo Networks to build Australia West Express undersea cable system connecting Australia, Africa and the Middle East|url=http://australiawestexpress.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/GoTo-Networks-Press-Release-05112016.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102100857/http://australiawestexpress.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/GoTo-Networks-Press-Release-05112016.pdf|archive-date=2017-01-02|url-status=dead|date=2015-05-11|access-date=2023-10-14|location=Paris, France & Morristown, New Jersey, USA|publisher=Alcatel-Lucent|language=en}} but was unable to obtain the investment required for construction and was ultimately cancelled.{{cite news|author=Joe Brock|title=Inside the subsea cable firm secretly helping America take on China|url=https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/us-china-tech-subcom/|date=2023-07-06|access-date=2023-09-02|publisher=Reuters|language=en}}

During the laying of the cable, Twitter users monitoring the progress of the installation using Automatic identification system-based tracking services observed the CS Dependable loitering in the waters surrounding Diego Garcia, indicating that an undisclosed branching unit and spur may have been installed to provide connectivity to the atoll.{{cite tweet|user=philBE2|number=1505916979198234632|title=21MAR22 OAC OM-AU cable revival?|access-date=2022-10-01|website=www.twitter.com}}

On 6 July 2023, the existence of the Diego Garcia spur was publicly confirmed by the United States Pacific Fleet as part of a Reuters investigation into SubCom. The article went on to state that the cable was previously announced to sailors on Diego Garcia by Captain Richard Payne, the commander of Diego Garcia at the time, during a talkback radio show on 9 February 2022, and that The Pentagon had paid for "around a third of the entire cable on the condition that it include a splice connecting its commercial trunk to Diego Garcia".

1. Perth, Western Australia, Australia
2. Cocos (Keeling) Islands
3. Diego Garcia
4. Muscat, Oman

• Other Australian international submarine cables (and year of first service):
• INDIGO West (2019)
• Australia Singapore Cable (2018)
• Hawaiki Cable (2018)
• Pipe Pacific Cable (2009)
• Telstra Endeavour (2008)
• Australia–Japan Cable (2001)
• Southern Cross Cable (2000)
• SEA-ME-WE 3 (2000, Australian portion in service earlier)
• JASURAUS (1997)
• PacRimWest (1995)

{{reflist}}

{{Submarine communications cables in the Indian Ocean}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Australia Oman Cable}}

Category:Submarine communications cables in the Indian Ocean

Category:2022 establishments in Australia

Category:Australia–Oman relations