Australia has two main competitors in the international data carriage market: Australia Japan Cable (AJC) and Southern Cross Cable Network.
Optus parent company SingTel, and Telecom NZ, respectively own 40 and 50 per cent stakes in Southern Cross. Telstra holds a 47 per cent stake in AJC and expects to complete a third cable to the US by 2008.
Australia's international wholesale data charges sat among the highest in the world. The IIA's last quarterly broadband index showed that data charges were currently the biggest component of internet service costs that consumers were being asked to bear.
