Global Switch has announced that customers in its Sydney data centre campus are now able to connect directly to FirstPath’s new high capacity submarine fibre optic cables which were laid across Sydney Harbour last month.

The cables, FirstPath’s first entry into submarine cables, provide one of the shortest paths between North Sydney and the CBD and the ASX. FirstPath, a leading Australian privately owned Telecommunications Company, had previously used fibre links running through the cross-harbour tunnel however the new submarine cables decrease path distance and improve latency as well as provide diverse pathways. The two cables joining Sydney’s Central Business District (CBD) with North Sydney provide a total capacity of 1,440 fibres cores.

Damon Reid, Global Switch’s managing director in Sydney said “FirstPath is an important part of Global Switch’s carrier network and we are very excited that FirstPath has selected Global Switch for this new service. The improved latency offered by these cables connecting Global Switch, the Australian Stock Exchange and other key locations in Sydney further enhances Global Switch’s considerable network density and diversity.”

Global Switch has recently begun early works on the second stage of Sydney East, its latest data centre, the first stage of which launched last year and is now nearing full occupancy. Damon Reid said, “Our customers truly value the established ecosystems offered within our Sydney data centre campus, where we continue to enhance our connectivity infrastructure. We facilitate one of the region’s most important connectivity hubs spanning 50,000 m2 of operational data centre space on a single high availability campus. Combined with our continually expanding community of cloud service providers Global Switch Sydney has an unrivalled business ecosystem.”

FirstPath’s CEO Stephen Carter said, “As a wholesale-only carrier we have seen an accelerating demand for all our services from business, enterprise and government to residential services, and this investment with improved network reach will strengthen our position to be a key player in an ever changing telecommunications marketplace.”