Cable & Wireless Plc is laying a $666m undersea fiber optic cable that when completed will be the second longest cable in the world. Called Southern Cross, it will link up Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and the West Coast of the US. C&W, WorldCom Inc, and Telecom Corp of New Zealand Ltd are investing in the cable, through a venture 49% owned by C&W and Optus Communications. The cable is due for completion in the year 2000, just before the Sydney Olympic games, and will have a capacity of 40Gbps, enough to carry 2.4 million simultaneous phone calls. Before deciding if the cable is to get the go-ahead the companies involved are raising further funding, from either debt issues from Optus, or from banks, and if the money is raised the cable will start being built from march 1998.
