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Pac Fibre invites tenders for Au-NZ-US cable

Build our network, [insert name here]

Pacific Fibre has announced that it has invited the submarine cable industry to tender for building its proposed Australia-New Zealand-US link.

If built, the link would expand both capacity and competition on the route. Today, the route is served by the dual-path Southern Cross Cable Network and Telstra's Endeavour cable.

Pacific Fibre also plans to take a small slice off trans-Pacific latency by skipping the traditional touch-point in Hawaii, opting instead for a direct route.

The company's announcement says it has sent its 450-page invitation to selected vendors to bid on the 5.12 Tbps, two-pair fibre system. It hopes to sign a construction contract by Q3 of 2011.

Pacific Fibre also confirmed that it will be "going it alone", without former partner Pacnet.

"A joint build Memorandum of Understanding expired earlier this year," wrote CEO Mark Rushworth. "We have been assuming a solo-build system for several months now and remain firmly on track to finance and deliver the system in 2013." ®

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