SUBCO’s SMAP Hypercable Connecting Australia’s Four Largest Cities Is Now Live

SUBCO has declared its SMAP subsea cable system ready for service, bringing online a 5,000-kilometre fully armoured cable connecting Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth across 16 fibre pairs.

The system delivers more than 400 Tbps of capacity using space division multiplexing (SDM) technology and represents the first major transcontinental capacity upgrade to Australia’s backbone connectivity in close to 25 years. It is also the first long-haul subsea cable to directly link all four cities, including the first submarine cable to land in both Melbourne and Adelaide.

Bevan Slattery, Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer at SUBCO, described the milestone as a generational shift for Australian infrastructure.

“SMAP going live is the culmination of more than three years of hard work, and a landmark moment for Australia’s digital future,” Slattery commented. “For the first time, the nation’s four major cities are connected by a single, fully armoured, high-capacity subsea system – delivering the resilience and scale that Australia’s digital economy, and its role as a connectivity hub for the Indo-Pacific, demands.”

Foundation customers

A group of foundation customers backed the project from its early stages, including 5GN, Swoop, Aussie Broadband, Cloudflare, GSL, Host Universal, Kinetix, Leaptel, Megaport, Telair and Virtutel.

Aussie Broadband is among those using the cable to upgrade its backbone network, increasing capacity to 400G between each of the intercity links. The cable provides added redundancy for the Sydney-Perth corridor while offering physical diversity across four states.

Brad Parker, Chief Technology Officer at Aussie Broadband, outlined what the capacity means for the company’s network.

“By coming on board early as a foundational customer of SMAP, we’re locking in the capacity, performance and resilience our customers will need for the next decade and beyond,” Parker explained. “The hyperscale capacity and added redundancy allows us to move massive volumes of traffic between our capital city points-of-presence with lower latency, higher availability and far more headroom for growth.”

SUBCO is also designed to be the first fully carbon neutral subsea cable system through its energy-efficient and renewable design.

Carrier and cloud support

Cloudflare is using SMAP to add diverse domestic paths across Australia, strengthening its network within the country.

Damian Matacz, Director of Network Strategy at Cloudflare, pointed to the infrastructure benefits.

“A better Internet is built on resilient infrastructure. SMAP gives Cloudflare diverse new domestic paths across Australia – strengthening our network and elevating the experience for everyone our customers serve,” Matacz noted.

Brendan Halley of Host Universal described the system as delivering the kind of sovereign infrastructure Australia requires.

“SUBCO have always been forward-thinking in how they design and operate their cable systems. SMAP is a standout example of that, delivering the resilient, sovereign infrastructure Australia needs. We’re proud to continue our relationship as a foundation partner,” Halley observed.

Broader industry backing

Several other foundation customers highlighted the cable’s role in their growth strategies.

Edward Wenman, Managing Director at Telair, described the investment as a way to future-proof the company’s network.

“Becoming a SUBCO foundation customer on SMAP is a significant move in future-proofing Telair’s network and the services we deliver to our customers. It positions us to meet rising demand for capacity and resilience well into the future, with a trusted partner,” Wenman commented.

Matthew Enger, Chief Executive Officer at Leaptel, pointed to the company’s expansion in Western Australia as a driver.

“We’re rapidly growing, particularly in WA, and SMAP gave us a clear pathway for both resilience and capacity,” Enger noted.

Tom Berryman, Chief Technology Officer at Swoop, highlighted the collaborative nature of the partnership.

“Our partnership with SUBCO is built on a shared commitment to performance, reliability and customer outcomes. As a foundation customer of SMAP, we’re excited to continue working together as the network expands and creates new opportunities for customers across Australia,” Berryman explained.

Joe Demase, Managing Director at 5GN, pointed to the competitive value of having an additional route option.

“We’ve had a long history with SUBCO and buying capacity with Indigo Central and West. Competitively priced, good service and another option, another route is always good to have,” Demase remarked.

David Allen, Managing Director at Virtutel, described the system as meeting all requirements.

“It just ticks every single box for redundancy and for additional network builds for the future,” Allen observed.

James Howell, Director at Kinetix, acknowledged the capability the cable brings to the Australian market.

Tasmania extension

SUBCO has also confirmed plans to extend the SMAP cable into Tasmania, which would deliver route diversity to the state for the first time and end its dependence on Victorian termination points.

Direct access to SMAP would provide the low-latency, high-capacity connectivity that large-scale GPU workloads require, positioning the extension as an enabler for the AI infrastructure ecosystem developing in Tasmania.

The Tasmanian branch is expected to be operational in the second quarter of 2027.

Last Updated on June 27, 2026 by Nick Ross