Telstra InfraCo to open ‘critical piece’ of $1.6B network investment next month

Telstra InfaCo is to launch its first route of its Intercity Fibre Network, which will link up Sydney and Canberra, in June.

Labelled by Telstra as a “critical piece” of its ongoing $1.6 billion networking investment to meet connectivity demand, the coastal route will open on 25 June to offer high capacity, ultra-low loss optical fibre connection for enterprises, hyperscalers, government, telco carriers and other retail service providers.

Coastal paths between Canberra and Melbourne and Sydney and Melbourne are expected to be ready by the first quarter of Telstra’s 2026 financial year and are open for pre-orders.

When completed, the network is expected to connect every mainland capital city in Australia by the end of the telco’s 2027 financial year, with over 4,000 kilometres of fibre laid to-date.

This, in part, will make up InfraCo’s overall infrastructure, which includes what Telstra referred to as the largest wholly-owned subsea cable network in Asia Pacific, 250,000 kilometres of fibre connecting 133 third party data centres and all 121 National Broadband Network (NBN) points of interconnect (POI), ducts, pits and poles, among other features.

“Australia is on the cusp of a data explosion,” said Telstra InfraCo executive for customer success Dino Georgiou.

“Generative AI, connected infrastructure and many of the tech advancements making headlines today are generating more data and increasing demand for interconnected assets like data centres and LEO [low earth orbit] satellites.”

“We’re predicting demand for data could increase by more than 30 percent year on year between now and 2031.”

The network contains a dual cable architecture to provide an express, long-distance path between capital cities and a foundation path to enhance connectivity between regional and remote areas, according to Telstra.

The foundation path of the upcoming Sydney to Canberra route includes on and off ramp infrastructure to allow access to customers along the network.

This, Telstra noted, creates economic development opportunities for regional communities, the potential to improve access to education and healthcare in areas with limited digital infrastructure and improve connectivity for mining and defence.

“Telstra’s Intercity Fibre Network is a significant national infrastructure build and the completion of the Sydney to Canberra coastal route is a major milestone for the project,” Georgiou said. “To get here, we overcame considerable complexities, from building through rock and mountains to working with hundreds of stakeholders from government, industry, private landowners and traditional owner groups.”

In addition to the route announcement, InfraCo also launched three products for its Intercity Fibre Network: Dark Fibre, Direct Spectrum and Wavelength. Dark Fibre offers customers a dedicated part of the network with the capability to move data at speeds of approximately 60 Tbps to 80 Tbps, with optional regional on and off ramps.

Meanwhile, Direct Spectrum offers an eight, quarter and half-fibre-pair options with speeds of 3.8 Tbps to 15.2 Tbps and BYO equipment and self-management options and Wavelength is available with 100 Gbps and 400 Gbps options.

All three products are also available for pre-orders.