RTI Connectivity (RTI) and NEC Corporation (NEC) has announced the successful completion of the Japan-Guam-Australia North Cable System (JGA North).

It’s approximately 2,700km in length and lands in Minami-Boso, Japan and Piti, Guam and has an initial design capacity of 24Tbps minimum, increasing to 30Tbps in the coming year.

The last cable between Japan and Australia was constructed more than 20 years ago while the JGA cables are already making tremendous improvements by establishing the fastest path between Tokyo and Sydney, delivering essential network diversity between Japan, Australia, the United States and expanding onward connectivity options over RTI’s Guam-connected hub-and-spoke network.

“JGA North’s on-time completion is extraordinary. The subsea cable experts on the ground and at sea overcame obstacle-after-obstacle by closely collaborating – an art that has become a standard practice over many years,” RTI chief executive Russ Matulich says.

“It resulted in JGA North’s remarkable on-time, and under budget, completion. This exceptional outcome – against all odds – confirms what the industry already knows: money doesn’t get cables built, relationships do. RTI is extremely grateful to our many friends that rose up to the challenge, especially the engineering teams, marine experts, and other subject matter experts who are often overlooked.”

NEC general manager of the submarine network division Atsushi Kuwahara says that NEC is proud that we successfully completed this project in such a rapid timeframe.

“The construction of every submarine cable system presents a unique set of challenges, and the building of JGA was not immune to this,” he says.

“But by closely cooperating with RTI, we overcame tremendous obstacles and successfully completed JGA North on-time. Fast and reliable connectivity to the Internet is essential for everyone, and NEC will continue to contribute to the expansion of connectivity for society.”