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CSIRO Brief On Fibre Swap

This document summarizes an agreement between IP1 Australia and CSIRO regarding the provision of additional optic fibre infrastructure. It discusses: 1) A previous foundation network agreement from 2002 providing CSIRO with 10Gb/s bandwidth on IP1's network from Victoria to Perth for research purposes. 2) Benefits to IP1 Australia of partnering with CSIRO including fast-tracking research capabilities and developing research programs. 3) IP1 provided CSIRO with fibre from Sunshine West to Melbourne for interconnecting research networks in exchange for equivalent fibre options from CSIRO in Sydney. 4) Thirteen options for fibre pairs in Sydney were included in a draft agreement for IP1

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26 views2 pages

CSIRO Brief On Fibre Swap

This document summarizes an agreement between IP1 Australia and CSIRO regarding the provision of additional optic fibre infrastructure. It discusses: 1) A previous foundation network agreement from 2002 providing CSIRO with 10Gb/s bandwidth on IP1's network from Victoria to Perth for research purposes. 2) Benefits to IP1 Australia of partnering with CSIRO including fast-tracking research capabilities and developing research programs. 3) IP1 provided CSIRO with fibre from Sunshine West to Melbourne for interconnecting research networks in exchange for equivalent fibre options from CSIRO in Sydney. 4) Thirteen options for fibre pairs in Sydney were included in a draft agreement for IP1

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murray.yeoman
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Report to Korda Mentha

IP1 Australia and CSIRO: Provision of Additional Optic Fibre Infrastructure

Background

CSIRO and IP1 Australia have previously (in 2002) entered into a Foundation Network Agreement, which
describes:

1. IP1 Australia’s contribution to the Commonwealth Government sponsored Advanced Network


Programme (ANP) for the establishment of an Australian telecommunications research network.
This contribution provided for the establishment of a 10 Gb/s wavelength on IP1 Australia’s optic
fibre network from Sunshine West, Victoria to 45 St Georges Terrace, Perth. CSIRO provided a
payment of $500,000 to IP1 Australia as a contribution towards the capital cost of providing this
wavelength on the condition that the bandwidth would be used for research purposes only.

CSIRO will oversee the research uses of the IP1 Australia bandwidth, consisting of traffic from
CSIRO and selected research consortium projects, and ensure that users do not violate the legal
obligations of the ANP funding and that such uses of the network align with IP1’s requirements
for non-commercial exploitation of the link.

2. CSIRO’s contribution to IP1 Australia of a fully funded (and resourced) joint research project for a
period of three (3) years. This has an estimated funding value of $200,000 per annum.

3. The conditions for possible commercialization and sharing of any intellectual property from the
research project.

Benefits to IP1

 The JV with CSIRO will fast-track IP1 Australia’s research capability and meet the R&D
commitment required as part of its carrier license conditions.

 IP1 Australia can develop a very credible research programme through the JV with CSIRO.

 IP1 Australia will have the rights to propose and conduct research projects on the
telecommunications research network.

 IP1 Australia and CSIRO will have unrestricted rights in 50/50 shares to any intellectual
property arising from the joint research project.

 IP1 Australia will benefit from a cooperative relationship with CSIRO leading to mutually
beneficial opportunities such as the provision by each party of additional optic fibre
infrastructure as described in this paper.

Current Status

IP1 Australia completed the construction of its optic fibre network from Sunshine West (Victoria) to Perth
in December 2002 and the ‘CSIRO wavelength’ was commissioned in March 2003. However, the
Foundation Network Agreement with CSIRO did not include the provision of an optic fibre link from
Sunshine West to the Melbourne CBD (a distance of 21 km) for the purpose of interconnecting to the
CSIRO research network linking Melbourne to the CSIRO research facilities in Sydney.

Yeoman Report to Korda Mentha July 2003 Page 1 of 2


Future Possibilities

In order to allow the interconnection of the two research networks, IP1 Australia agreed to provide CSIRO
with a single optic fibre pair from Sunshine West to the PowerTel site at 376 Flinders St, Melbourne. (IP1
Australia has installed a 60 fibre cable on this route) This fibre pair was provided to CSIRO on the
condition that CSIRO provided an equivalent amount of optic fibre infrastructure in Sydney to IP1
Australia.

IP1 Australia provided the Sunshine West to 376 Flinders St, Melbourne fibre link to CSIRO in June 2003
on the basis that CSIRO would provide a draft Agreement describing the conditions of the exchange of
fibre pairs, and also listing the options for taking optic fibre infrastructure in Sydney for IP1’s
consideration. Note that IP1 Australia was already aware of the likely options of optic fibre infrastructure
that might be offered by CSIRO and was keen to obtain a combination of the following:

1. Optic fibre pairs from 9 Castlereagh St, Sydney to Fox Studios. This would then allow a
relatively low cost build from Fox Studios to the Reach site at Paddington Exchange for
interconnection to the AJC undersea cable.

2. Optic fibre pairs or bandwidth from Fox Studios (or separately from 9 Castlereagh St.) to Southern
Cross Networks at Alexandria.

3. Optic fibre pairs from 9 Castlereagh St through the CBD and across the harbour to Nth Sydney.

4. Optic fibre pairs from Nth Sydney to North Ryde. (Considered lowest priority option)

Draft Agreement

The draft agreement from CSIRO contains (in Schedule 1) thirteen options for provision of fibre pairs
throughout Sydney and includes an additional option for provision of a wavelength from UTS to Southern
Cross Networks at Alexandria.

This is the first draft agreement on this issue provided to IP1 Australia and it is noted that clarification and
changes will be required of a number of clauses in the agreement.

Commercial Value

IP1 Australia considered it commercially desirable to be able to provide trans Australia


telecommunications services that can interconnect to the submarine cables in Sydney and Perth; - and
hence for the provision of international services.

The CSIRO options for provision of additional fibre and bandwidth capacity (for an equivalent 21 km) in
Sydney is very attractive and it is estimated that the equivalent lease costs of this fibre would be of the
order of $300,000 per year. The cost of constructing 21 km of optic fibre from Alexandria – via
Paddington through the Sydney CBD – across the harbour – and along the Pacific Highway would cost
approximately $1 million - $1.5 million depending on availability and use of Telstra ducts, and the actual
cost of construction.

On the other side of the coin, IP1 Australia has provisioned a 60 fibre cable from Sunshine West to 376
Flinders Street, and the cost of providing 21 km of a fibre pair to CSIRO in Melbourne is – by comparison
– very low.

Murray Yeoman
9th July 2003

Yeoman Report to Korda Mentha July 2003 Page 2 of 2

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