Vocus lights up 400G coast-to-coast network in Australia

Digital infrastructure backbone provider Vocus has launched its 400G Wavelength Ethernet service, connecting Australia's east and west coasts with ultra-high speed service.

It offers 400 gigabits per second speeds between Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane in the east, to Adelaide and Perth in the west.

This launch is the culmination of a multi-year investment program that enables Vocus to deliver 400G Wavelength Ethernet services ready for immediate customer activation.

“Vocus’ engineering teams have accomplished an extraordinary feat by lighting up 400G Wavelength Ethernet services across one of the world’s longest terrestrial routes,” Jarrod Nink, interim chief executive of Vocus said.

This coast-to-coast connectivity is a game-changer for various sectors, including hyperscalers and data centre operators.

“Enabling this type of performance between data centres nationally is key to supporting AI workload connectivity,” Nink added.

The new system utilises cutting-edge technology to ensure maximum performance across Australia’s challenging terrain.

“Our new Adelaide-Perth system uses both C-band and L-band spectrum, doubling the capacity of our existing fibre with the advanced capabilities of Ciena’s WaveLogic coherent technology,” Steve Haigh, Vocus general manager network engineering said.

The 1530 to 1565 nanometre (Conventional) C-band is commonly used in fibre-optics, with a low signal loss making it a good candidate for long-haul data transmissions.

Using the C-band with the (Long) L-band in the 1565 to 1625 nm, network operators can substantially increase the data transmission capacity of fibre-optic cables.

This system integrates with existing intercapital systems on the east coast and delivers both speed and tens of terabits of new capacity over Vocus’ fibre infrastructure.

Haigh also highlighted the robustness of the network saying the system’s ability to deliver 400G Ethernet services between Perth and the east coast across some of Australia’s toughest and most remote terrain demonstrates the exceptional quality of our network infrastructure and the teams that operate it.

With on-ramp access to the new 400G links from major colocation facilities in Adelaide and Perth, including NextDC, Equinix, and DCI, Vocus now offers diverse and high-speed options for hyperscale networks.

The service provides a scalable platform for government, enterprise, and wholesale customers, with bandwidth ready to be activated to meet future demand.

“Organisations can confidently deploy data-intensive applications and workloads between the east and west coasts, knowing that reliable services right up to multiples of 400G will be available to them,” Nink explained.

He added that Vocus has a "strong pipeline of projects" to expand the density, diversity and performance of its network.