Oman Australia Cable
Active9,800 km submarine cable system, ready for service September 2022 }}.
Key facts
- Status
- Active
- Ready for service
- September 2022 }}
- Length
- 9,800 km
- Design capacity
- 39 Tbit/s
- Owner
- SUBCO
- Connects
- Oman
Landing points
- Perth, Australia<br />Cocos (Keeling) Islands<br />Diego Garcia<br />Muscat, Oman, Perth — Oman
Overview
The Oman Australia Cable (OAC) is a submarine cable system spanning approximately 9,800 km across the Indian Ocean, connecting Perth on Australia's west coast with Muscat, Oman. Owned and operated by SUBCO, the system entered service in September 2022 with a design capacity of 39 Tbit/s.
Route and Landing Points
The cable lands at four points: Perth, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Diego Garcia, and Muscat. That routing is significant. Cocos (Keeling) Islands — an Australian territory sitting roughly midway between Perth and Sri Lanka — has historically been underserved by submarine cable infrastructure, relying on limited satellite capacity. OAC changes that calculus, giving the islands a direct fibre connection to both Australian and international networks. Diego Garcia, the atoll that serves as a strategically important base in the central Indian Ocean, similarly gains a cable landing that reflects the route's broader logistical and connectivity value.
At either terminus, the cable plugs into substantial onward networks. Perth is a major aggregation point for Australian domestic traffic and a gateway for cables heading toward Southeast Asia and beyond. Muscat sits at the intersection of Gulf and global cable routes, offering onward reach into the Middle East and beyond.
Ownership and Context
SUBCO, the Oman-based wholesale telecommunications carrier, is the sole owner of record. The builder of the system is not documented in available sources. SUBCO has positioned OAC as a dedicated capacity route between Australia and Oman, distinct from the multi-owner consortium cables that dominate much of the Indian Ocean corridor.
Regional Significance
Most Indian Ocean cable systems trace arcs through Southeast Asia or around the southern tip of India before reaching the Gulf. OAC cuts a more direct path, making it a meaningful addition to the diversity of routes available between Oceania and the Middle East — a corridor that carries growing volumes of data traffic between two regions with deepening economic ties.