Construction has commenced on the 9500km Japan-Guam-Australia Cable System (JGA), with completion expected in the fourth quarter of 2019.

The cable will be owned by a consortium comprising RTI Connectivity, AARNet, Google, Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) and NEC. ASN and NEC are building the system.

JGA South, the segment between Sydney and Piti in Guam, is being built by a consortium that comprises AARNet, Google and RTI-C. JGA North (JGA-N) between the Minami-Boso, Japan, and Piti will be owned solely by RTI-C. The two systems will interconnect in Guam.

AARNet CEO Chris Hancock said his company’s investment in JGA would complement its investment in the Indigo subsea cable system, providing connectivity into North and South-East Asia and allow Australian universities to have unconstrained access to meet the big data challenges of the future