Telstra InfraCo expands dark fibre footprint

Telstra InfraCo has expanded its dark fibre footprint and has started offering pre-defined dark fibre NBN point of interconnect (POI) rings to allow building more private fibre networks.

Telstra InfraCo fibre executive Kathryn Jones said the combination of the expanded footprint and POI rings would appeal to customers seeking fibre optic connectivity that delivers low latency, inbuilt redundancy, and the flexibility to upgrade capacity on demand.

“Telstra InfraCo Dark Fibre is high quality fibre-optic cable we have installed and maintain but aren’t using in the delivery of national telecommunications services,” Jones said.

“This means companies looking at building or buying a unique private network to deliver large volumes of data can access it straight away while retaining full control over their network design and transmission equipment choices.”

Jones added the dark fibre footprint has grown by 25 percent since launching the product in February 2021, with some 300 pre-defined routes available.

“Australia’s first dark fibre POI ring offering demonstrates even more efficiencies for our customers, connecting NBN POI locations to major Data Centre sites in six metropolitan cities of Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth,” she said.

“It provides customers the simplicity of buying predefined paths but with total control to customise the solution to fit their business needs. It really is the best of both worlds with access to our infrastructure and network expertise but total flexibility and control for their preferred solution.”

The POI ring solution can be customised by telco customers to focus on multiple locations or cities, and also provides inbuilt redundancy where possible, lower upfront and ongoing costs, comparatively higher levels of security, an unlimited capacity for business growth without having to manage multiple third party infrastructure partners.

“We developed the new dark fibre point of interconnect product when we noticed customers were putting together their own ring bundles using our dark fibre. The product has several advantages though - with the biggest being the built-in resilience. If there is an interruption to one route, traffic can be switched to the alternative route to avoid disruption,” Jones said.

“With more than 300 pre-defined paths available right now in six state capitals, connected to 72 metro data centres, 84 NBN points of interconnect and two cable landing stations, opening up our fixed network to customers in this way is a profound step in unlocking untapped value in our network assets.

“Our Dark Fibre offerings give our customers the capacity, flexibility, security and speed needed to unlock new business opportunities.”