The weekday briefing on Australian telecommunications, data centres and AI infrastructure.
Today's briefing
Friday 13 November 2026
Vocus restored the Australia Singapore Cable on 11 November 2026, 68 days after a suspected shunt fault on 4 September.
Data centres drew scrutiny on several fronts: Quantum DC paused its 1200MW Tungkillo bid after community backlash, and the AEMC opened consultation on registering large loads.
In Canberra, NBN Co released the first 2,000 premises for full-fibre upgrades, with another 2,000 expected by Christmas.
Vocus said the Perth to Singapore Australia Singapore Cable was back in service on 11 November 2026, about 68 days after a suspected shunt fault on 4 September. A delayed Indigo West job and a crew medical emergency stretched the schedule.
NBN Co has released the first 2,000 ACT premises for fibre-to-the-premises upgrades in Holt, Griffith and Narrabundah, with a further 2,000 expected by Christmas. Construction has begun on more than 38,000 premises.
Optus took eight of 14 awards outright and shared a ninth with Vodafone in Opensignal's latest Mobile Network Experience report, while Telstra won coverage and Vodafone won upload speeds.
Optus and Nokia say a live-network trial in the ACT delivered download speeds up to 91 per cent faster outdoors and 51 per cent faster indoors by letting a commercial phone use Optus' full 25MHz downlink channel in the 900MHz band.
AirTrunk has signed an exclusivity deal with European Energy Australia over 260 MW of solar, up to 350 MW of wind and a battery of 800+ MWh in the Hunter. No power purchase agreement exists yet, and RenewEconomy reported that none of the projects has been lodged for approval.
TPG Telecom is developing AI agents that customers could start themselves to diagnose and fix service problems, with general manager Gaston De Arriba reporting around 40 per cent lower churn in cohorts where agentic AI is already used. No launch date was given.
Telstra says an attempted copper cable theft damaged adjacent fibre in the Stockton area, cutting phone and internet services through Fern Bay and Fullerton Cove from about 10:15am on Thursday 12 November 2026. The company has not given a restoration time.
Gingerah Energy has referred its 1,000-megawatt Project Meridien data centre and renewables hub near Broome for federal environmental assessment, and says gas will be a minor part of the energy mix. Environmental groups want to know where that gas will come from.
Quantum DC will not lodge a development application this year for its proposed 1200-megawatt AI data centre at Tungkillo in the Adelaide Hills, saying it misread community feeling. The SA government is moving to legislate a regulatory framework, and the Greens, One Nation and the Liberals have pushed for scrutiny of the sector.
An Oxford Economics briefing forecasts Australian data centre construction will need an average of 5,200 electricians a year from 2026 to 2030, adding to shortages across infrastructure. A companion report says up to three-quarters of the investment will go on imported goods.
The Australian Energy Market Commission has opened consultation on registering data centres and other large inverter-based loads, with telemetry and demand-change limits, and has finalised a 30MW threshold for new grid access standards.
DXN has signed a $4.8 million contract for a modular cable landing station to be installed at a Pacific site under US jurisdiction. The buyer is an unnamed global internet company that has now placed four orders with it.
The US Commerce Department is preparing rules that would require licences to export Nvidia Blackwell-class and more advanced chips to seven countries, four of them in Southeast Asia, to stop Chinese firms accessing the hardware remotely, The Information reported.