Telecom switches on new Cook Strait cable

Telecom today switched on its new $30 million Cook Strait telecommunications cable.

Communications Minister Paul Swain activated the 200-kilometre cable at an opening ceremony at Horowhenua College in Levin this morning.

The only telecommunications cable linking the North and South Islands that has been diverted away from Wellington to avoid earthquake and other risks, Telecom says it will enable hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders to receive better and more reliable communications and online services.

Telecom's Group General Manager Network, Simon Moutter, said the cable was a significant enhancement to the backbone telecommunications network New Zealand needed for a knowledge economy.

The Cook Strait Cable is part of a three stage $38 million project.

The second stage is a new cable across the South Island between Greymouth and Christchurch, which is being laid now, and the final stage will be reconfiguring the network.

Mr Moutter said the project was part of Telecom's ongoing programme to enhance its national network and give Telecom customers access to the best service available in New Zealand.

The Cook Strait Cable has a carrying capacity of up to 3.2 terrabits a second.

"That's enough to enable everyone in the South Island to watch a separate high quality digital video channel at the same time," Mr Moutter said. "Or in telephone terms, enough for 15 million simultaneous phone calls."

"Dependence on our infrastructure is always increasing, particularly with more and more New Zealanders going online for business and home applications," he said.

"This new cable delivers high quality and huge bandwidth and that means South Island businesses and residential customers will be able to tap into advanced information technologies."

Telecom's Cook Strait Cable combines with the new Southern Cross Cable to deliver a state of the art robust, high capacity service inside New Zealand, and between New Zealand and the rest of the world.

Mr Moutter said today's launch illustrated the potential of the new cable, in an educational environment.

"We've got two groups of students who have never met before, who are in different parts of the country working together as if they were in the same room thanks to high speed, high bandwidth connections," he said.

Mr Moutter said switching on the cable marked the completion of an important project in Telecom's history, and the beginning of even better and more reliable services for customers.