Australia–Japan Cable
| Australia–Japan Cable (AJC) | |
|---|---|
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| 
Owners: Telstra, BT, Verizon Business, Softbank  | |
  | |
| Total length | 12,700 km | 
| Topology | collapsed loop design | 
| Design capacity | 
640 gbit/s (2001) 1000 gbit/s (2008) >4000 gbit/s (2013)[1]  | 
| Currently lit capacity | 
80 gbit/s (2001) 240 gbit/s (2008) 320 gbit/s (2013)[1]  | 
| Technology | Fibre-optic | 
| Date of first use | 2001 | 
The Australia–Japan Cable, or AJC, is a 12,700 km submarine telecommunications cable system linking Australia and Japan via Guam[2] that became operational in 2001. It had an original design capacity of 640 Gbit/s, but was initially equipped to utilise only 80 Gbit/s of this capacity. In April 2008 a capacity upgrade was completed, bringing equipped capacity to 240 Gbit/s. Design capacity was also increased to 1000 Gbit/s. Further upgrades will increase equipped capacity to meet increasing demand.[3]
The AJC network employs a collapsed loop design that features diverse landings in Australia, Guam and Japan and diverse routing at water depths less than 4000m. This design reduces cost by utilising a common sheath in deep water, where risk of failure is low, but provides redundancy to mitigate risk in shallower waters and in the landing stations.
The network supports a range of access interfaces, including SDH at STM1, STM4, STM16 and STM64 levels, 2.5G clear, Direct Wavelength Access, Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet. A range of protection options are available, including SDH span and ring protection and 1:n wavelength redundancy.
The cable has a design life to 2026.
Landing points
- Shima, Japan
 - Maruyama, Chiba, Japan
 - Tanguisson, Guam, unincorporated territory of the United States
 - Tumon Bay, Guam, unincorporated territory of the United States
 - Oxford Falls, Sydney, Australia
 - Paddington, Sydney, Australia
 
Ownership
AJC is jointly owned by Telstra, BT, Verizon Business and Softbank.[2]
See also
-  Other Australian international submarine cables (and year of first service):
- Pipe Pacific Cable (2009)
 - Telstra Endeavour (2008)
 - Southern Cross Cable (2000)
 - SEA-ME-WE 3 (2000, Australian portion in service earlier)
 - JASURAUS (1997)
 - Pacrim West (1995)
 
 
References
- 1 2 http://www.ajcable.com/
 - 1 2 Australia-Japan Cable completes refinancing
 - ↑ Australasian Region, International Cable Protection Committee.
 
