Transtasman submarine cable goes live

The Tasman Global Access cable is a joint venture between Spark, Vodafone and Telstra. Photo / NZME

A 2288km fibre optic cable between New Zealand and Australia is officially in service.

The $100 million Tasman Global Access cable runs from Ngarunui Beach in Raglan to Narrabeen Beach in Sydney and will carry vast quantities of internet traffic between the two countries.

The project is a joint venture between Spark, Vodafone and Telstra, which want to strengthen diversity and resiliency within the country's telecommunications infrastructure.

The cable has been constructed to deliver more international bandwidth and capacity for New Zealand and also serves as a digital link to fast-growing Asian economic markets by enabling better connectivity to the five major international cable systems currently serving Australia.

Spark, Vodafone and Telstra all expressed their pleasure with the project's successful completion.

Communications Minister Simon Bridges said the cable provided greater capacity in the system, reducing the risk of bottlenecks and enabling faster, better internet for consumers, particularly when content is being streamed from overseas. It also provided greater competition in New Zealand's cable market.

"This cable is another step towards ensuring we've got affordable and robust connections with the rest of the world. It also ensures that domestic demands for data are supported by international capacity, setting us up for the future," he said.

The cable is comprised of two fibre pairs, has a total design capacity of 20 terabits per second and has 20 repeaters which are used to amplify the optical signals along the length of the cable.

It was laid by the Alcatel Submarine Networks Ile De Re cable-laying ship.