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Whatever your capacity for business growth, Southern Cross has the capacity to help you realise your potential.
Access to high capacity with fast and secure international connectivity between Australasia and the United States is well within reach with our wide-range of innovative customer product offerings.
This section outlines Southern Cross's product offerings available under new or existing contracts. However if you have a specific requirement, we are happy to work with you to try and tailor a solution that will meet your specific needs.
Southern Cross does not currently promote STM-1/4, or Unprotected services.
Contact Us
For further information about Southern Cross Product Options and what will work best for your organisation, please contact:
Craige Sloots
DIRECTOR MARKETING & SALES
CONFIGURATION |
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PROTECTED
A Protected configuration provides a single traffic circuit inclusive of the in-built self-restoration capabilities provided by the network. |
2 DROP
The Two Drop Ring provides two separate circuits configured in a ring around the network. |
3 DROP
The Three Drop Ring product provides three separate circuits configured in a ring around the network. |
4 DROP
The Four Drop Ring product provides four separate circuits configured in a ring around the network. |
RESTORED
N-Drop Restored provides restoration for the circuits of your 2,3, 4 or 5 Drop service. |
CAPACITY | |||||||||
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STM-16
2.5Gbps. SDH. Optical Interface |
STM-64
10Gbps. SDH. Optical Interface |
2.5G
Transparent STM-16. Optical Interface. |
10G
Transparent STM-64. Optical Interface. |
1GbE
EoSDH. 1G Ethernet. |
10GbE
EoSDH. 10Gb Ethernet. LAN-PHY or WAN-PHY. |
100GbE
EoODU4. 100Gb Ethernet. Full Rate only. |
O10G
10G. OTN. Optical Interface |
O40G
40G. OTN. Optical Interface |
O100G
100G. OTN. Optical Interface |
RING | ||
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NORTH - SOUTH | NORTH | SOUTH |
STM-16
STM-16 (Synchronous Transport Module) is a SDH ITU-T fiber optic network transmission standard with a bit rate of 2,488.32 Mbit/s, and can be configured for either a single 'structured' payload (STM-16) or as a 'concatenated' payload (STM-16c).
Southern Cross makes no commercial distinction between the two payload types with the configuration option available on circuit activation depending on the specific needs of the customer.
Configuration
Rings
PROTECTED NORTH - SOUTH NORTH SOUTH

2 DROP NORTH - SOUTH NORTH SOUTH

3 DROP NORTH - SOUTH SOUTH

4 DROP NORTH - SOUTH

RESTORED NORTH - SOUTH

General characteristics
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Optical tributary
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STM-64
STM-64 (Synchronous Transport Module) is a SDH ITU-T fiber optic network transmission standard with a bit rate of 9,953.28 Mbit/s, and can be configured for either a single 'structured' payload (STM-64) or as a 'concatenated' payload (STM-64c).
Southern Cross makes no commercial distinction between the two payload types with the configuration option available on circuit activation depending on the specific needs of the customer.
Configuration
Rings
PROTECTED NORTH - SOUTH NORTH SOUTH

2 DROP NORTH - SOUTH NORTH SOUTH

3 DROP NORTH - SOUTH SOUTH

4 DROP NORTH - SOUTH

RESTORED NORTH - SOUTH

General characteristics
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Optical tributary
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1G Giganet
Ethernet is an increasingly important service for many of todays carriers and service providers. Southern Cross has a number of Ethernet Private Line (EPL) products (SX Giganet), providing the security, privacy and dedicated bandwidth connectivity of a private line service on Soutehrn Cross' robust ring based network architecture, with the flexibility and scalability of Ethernet interfacing.
Southern Cross offers Ethernet connectivity starting at a 1 Gigabit interface, and uses Generic Framing Protocol (GFP) to transport the Ethernet frames over the underlying SDH/OTN network. This allows the inherent and superior network restorative features of SDH/OTN to be applied to your Ethernet circuits, in a similar fashion to our SDH/OTN portfolio.
Note: Protected Ethernet configurations refer to the SDH/OTN network side protection. Port (MSP) protection is not available on native Ethernet interfaces.
Configuration
Rings
PROTECTED NORTH - SOUTH NORTH SOUTH

2 DROP NORTH - SOUTH NORTH SOUTH

3 DROP NORTH - SOUTH SOUTH

4 DROP NORTH - SOUTH

General characteristics
Southern Cross Giganet EPL services are provided using Generic Framing Protocol (GFP) which allows asynchronous (octet aligned, variable length) payloads such as Ethernet to be carried over octet-synchronous networks. |
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As part of the GFP procedure the Ethernet frames (save the 'pre-amble' and 'frame delimiter') are encapsulated within a GFP frame, before being transported as part of the SDH/OTN payload. Actual data 'throughput' is therefore impacted by the efficiency and attributes of the client Ethernet network, particularly frame size. The table indicates the estimated maximum throughput that will be achieved via a Giganet circuit based on the client Ethernet frame size selection, and is calculated in accordance with ITU-T Recommendation G.7041. However, as actual throughput is impacted by a number of client side settings (such as Ethernet frame check sequence), these should be used as a guide only.
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Note: Giganet (1GbE) and Giganet 10L (10G LAN-PHY) services require Ethernet interfaces on connecting backhaul. Giganet 10W (WAN-PHY) services require and SDH interface on connecting backhaul. |
10G Giganet
Ethernet is an increasingly important service for many of today's carriers and service providers. Southern Cross has a number of Ethernet Private Line (EPL) products (SX Giganet), providing the security, privacy and dedicated bandwidth connectivity of a private line service on Southern Cross' robust ring based network architecture, with the flexibility and scalability of Ethernet interfacing.
Southern Cross offers 10 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity via either a LAN-PHY or WAN-PHY interface, and uses Generic Framing Protocol (GFP) to transport the Ethernet frames over the underlying SDH network. OTN based 10GbE Full Rate services are mapped directly to an ODU-2 payload. This allows the inherent and superior network restorative features of SDH/OTN to be applied to your Ethernet circuits, in a similar fashion to our SDH/OTN product portfolio.
Note: Protected Ethernet configurations refer to the SDH/OTN network side protection. Port (MSP) protection is not available on native Ethernet interfaces.
Configuration
Rings
PROTECTED NORTH - SOUTH NORTH SOUTH

2 DROP NORTH - SOUTH NORTH SOUTH

3 DROP NORTH - SOUTH SOUTH

4 DROP NORTH - SOUTH

RESTORED NORTH - SOUTH

General characteristics - 10G LAN-PHY
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General characteristics - 10G WAN-PHY
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Southern Cross Giganet EPL SDH based 10GbE services are provided using Generic Framing Protocol (GFP) which allows asynchronous (octet aligned, variable length) payloads such as Ethernet to be carried over octet-synchronous networks. As part of the GFP procedure the Ethernet frames (save the 'pre-amble' and 'frame delimiter') are encapsulated within a GFP frame, before being transported as part of the SDH/OTN payload. Actual data 'throughput' is therefore impacted by the efficiency and attributes of the client Ethernet network, particularly frame size. The table indicates the estimated maximum throughput that will be achieved via a Giganet circuit based on the client Ethernet frame size selection, and is calculated in accordance with ITU-T Recommendation G.7041. However, as actual throughput is impacted by a number of client side settings (such as Ethernet frame check sequence), these should be used as a guide only. Note: Giganet (1GbE) and Giganet 10L (10G LAN-PHY) services require Ethernet interfaces on connecting backhaul. Giganet 10W (10G WAN-PHY) services require an SDH interface on connecting backhaul. |
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100G Ethernet
Ethernet is an increasingly important service for many of today's carriers and service providers. Southern Cross has a number of Ethernet Private Line (EPL) products (SX Giganet), providing the security, privacy and dedicated bandwidth connectivity of a private line service on Southern Cross' robust ring based network architecture, with the flexibility and scalability of Ethernet interfacing.
Southern Cross offers 100 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity via optical interface, and uses OTN (ODU-4) to transport the Ethernet frames over the underlying OTN network. This allows the inherent and superior network restorative features of OTN to be applied to your Ethernet circuits, in a similar fashion to our SDH/OTN product portfol4
Note: Protected Ethernet configurations refer to the SDH/OTN network side protection. Port (MSP) protection is not available on native Ethernet interfaces.
Configuration
Rings
PROTECTED NORTH - SOUTH NORTH SOUTH

2 DROP NORTH - SOUTH NORTH SOUTH

3 DROP NORTH - SOUTH SOUTH

4 DROP NORTH - SOUTH

RESTORED NORTH - SOUTH

General characteristics - 100GbE
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General characteristics - 100GbE
1294.53-1310.19 nm |
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2.5 Gigawave
Gigawave is an important service for many of todays carriers and service providers who require transparency of SDH/SONET overhead section signalling information on their services within Australasia and the USA.
Southern Cross offers Transparent SDH line solutions at both the 2.5 Gigabit and 10 Gigabit interface level. Southern Cross uses virtual concatenation and/or OTN (Optical Transport Network) functionality to transport the SDH/SONET line signal transparently over our robust backbone network. This allows the inherent and superior network restorative features of SDH/OTN to be applied to your SDH circuits, while maintaining the inherent featrures of transparent carriage of a customers SDH/SONET signals.
Configuration
Rings
2 DROP NORTH - SOUTH NORTH SOUTH

3 DROP NORTH - SOUTH SOUTH

4 DROP NORTH - SOUTH

RESTORED NORTH - SOUTH

What is Transparent SDH? Traditional SDH/SONET carriage terminates the section/RS and line/MS layer information, and hence associated in-band OA&M channels at the network boundaries. Southern Cross Gigawave services employ virtual concantenation and/or OTN functionality to transport SDH/SONET line signals transparently over the network. In the case of the 2.5G Gigawave service the client signal is split into 17 STS-3c/VC-4 containers over the network, to be re-assembled and handed back as an OC-48/STM-16 signal. |
General characteristics & Features
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SDH Mapping: Visibility of the SONET/SDH Section/RS bytes on the client signal is required. The 2.5G Gigawave service is mapped within the Southern Cross SDH network as a VC-4-17v. Backhaul: Gigawave service require relevant SDH/SONET interfaces on connecting backhaul. Fault Monitoring: While Southern Cross proactively monitors its network equipment, and has non-intrusive visibility of the B1 byte of the SONET/SDH section/RS information, transparent services by definition do not provide Southern Cross with detailed SDH monitoring capability. Fault Monitoring is therefore dependent on the customer having adequate SDH/SONET fault monitoring capability to allow notification to Southern Cross in the event of downstream fault conditions. |
Timing: As the client signal is tranported transparently across the Southern Cross network, the Southern Cross network interface cannot be used as a timing source. The client signal and associated client equipment may be able to be used as a timing source. However, this is dependent on the functionality and configuration of the client side equipment, and is not guaranteed by Southern Cross. |
10G Gigawave
Gigawave is an important service for many of todays carriers and service providers who require transparency of SDH/SONET overhead section signalling information on their services within Australasia and the USA.
Southern Cross offers Transparent SDH line solutions at both the 2.5 Gigabit and 10 Gigabit interface level. Southern Cross uses virtual concatenation and/or OTN (Optical Transport Network) functionality to transport the SDH/SONET line signal transparently over our robust backbone network. This allows the inherent and superior network restorative features of SDH/OTN to be applied to your SDH circuits, while maintaining the inherent featrures of transparent carriage of a customers SDH/SONET signals.
Configuration
Rings
2 DROP NORTH - SOUTH NORTH SOUTH

3 DROP NORTH - SOUTH SOUTH

4 DROP NORTH - SOUTH

RESTORED NORTH - SOUTH

What is Transparent SDH? Traditional SDH/SONET carriage terminates the section/RS and line/MS layer information, and hence associated in-band OA&M channels at the network boundaries. Southern Cross Gigawave services employ virtual concantenation and/or OTN functionality to transport SDH/SONET line signals transparently over the network. In the case of the 10G Gigawave service the client signal is interfaced directly into the Southern Cross SLTE (Submarine Line Terminating Equipment), or carried via an OTU-2 payload via OTN. |
General characteristics & Features
|
SDH Mapping: Visibility of the SONET/SDH Section/RS bytes on the client signal is required. Backhaul: Gigawave service require relevant SDH/SONET interfaces on connecting backhaul. Fault Monitoring: While Southern Cross proactively monitors its network equipment, and has non-intrusive visibility of the B1 byte of the SONET/SDH section/RS information, transparent services by definition do not provide Southern Cross with detailed SDH monitoring capability. Fault Monitoring is therefore dependent on the customer having adequate SDH/SONET fault monitoring capability to allow notification to Southern Cross in the event of downstream fault conditions. |
Timing: As the client signal is tranported transparently across the Southern Cross network, the Southern Cross network interface cannot be used as a timing source. The client signal and associated client equipment may be able to be used as a timing source. However, this is dependent on the functionality and configuration of the client side equipment, and is not guaranteed by Southern Cross. |
10G OTN
OTN is an optical transport standard developed by the ITU-T and first standardized in 1998. It is also known as ITU G.709 or"digital wrapper." As part of OTN, the ITU has defined payload encapsulation, OAM overhead, forward error correction (FEC), and multiplexing hierarchy parameters. The result is a transport standard that includes the benefits of SDH but with improvements for transporting data payloads.
Southern Cross' 10G service is presented via an OTN OTU-2 interface. OTN services are not currently available in Fiji.
Configuration
Rings
PROTECTED NORTH - SOUTH NORTH SOUTH

2 DROP NORTH - SOUTH NORTH SOUTH

3 DROP NORTH - SOUTH SOUTH

4 DROP NORTH - SOUTH

RESTORED NORTH - SOUTH

40G OTN
OTN is an optical transport standard developed by the ITU-T and first standardized in 1998. It is also known as ITU G.709 or"digital wrapper." As part of OTN, the ITU has defined payload encapsulation, OAM overhead, forward error correction (FEC), and multiplexing hierarchy parameters. The result is a transport standard that includes the benefits of SDH but with improvements for transporting data payloads.
Southern Cross' 40G service is presented via an OTN OTU-3 interface. OTN services are not available from Fiji.
Configuration
Rings
PROTECTED NORTH - SOUTH NORTH SOUTH

2 DROP NORTH - SOUTH NORTH SOUTH

3 DROP NORTH - SOUTH SOUTH

4 DROP NORTH - SOUTH

RESTORED NORTH - SOUTH

General characteristics - 40G OTU-3
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General characteristics - 40G OTU-3
1271 nm, 1291 nm, 1311nm, 1331 nm |
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100G OTN
OTN is an optical transport standard developed by the ITU-T and first standardized in 1998. It is also known as ITU G.709 or"digital wrapper." As part of OTN, the ITU has defined payload encapsulation, OAM overhead, forward error correction (FEC), and multiplexing hierarchy parameters. The result is a transport standard that includes the benefits of SDH but with improvements for transporting data payloads.
Southern Cross' 100G service is presented via an OTN OTU-4 interface. OTN services are not available from Fiji.
Configuration
Rings
PROTECTED NORTH - SOUTH NORTH SOUTH

2 DROP NORTH - SOUTH NORTH SOUTH

3 DROP NORTH - SOUTH SOUTH

4 DROP NORTH - SOUTH

RESTORED NORTH - SOUTH

General characteristics - 100G OTU-4
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General characteristics - 100G OTU-4
1294.53-1310.19 nm |
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Configurations
PROTECTED
A Protected configuration provides a single traffic circuit between two specific access points, inclusive of the in-built self-restoration capabilities provided by the network. The network protection mechanism is compliant with ITU-T G.841. A Southern Cross Protected circuit is typically provided using technologies such as SNC-P protection, Optical Switching and/or Mesh networking technologies.

UNIT SIZE | GROSS MEGABITS | Comments |
---|---|---|
STM-16 | 2,488.32 | SDH. Optical Interface. |
STM-64 | 9,953.28 | SDH. Optical Interface. |
1GbE | 1,000 | EoSDH. Optical Interface. |
10GbE | 9,953.28 (W); 10,000 (L) | EoSDH. Optical interface. |
O40G | 40,319.22 | OTN. ODU-3. Optical. |
O10G | 10.04 Gbps | 10Gbps. ODU-2. Optical |
O100G | 112000 | OTN. ODU-4. Optical |
100GbE | 100,000 | EoODU4. 100GbE. Optical. Full Rate only. |
Important information
- Protected Capacity can be assigned on any Traffic Path
- Reassignment of Protected Capacity to other configurations and Traffic Paths is allowed
- MSP Network Interface protection is available for SDH interfaces only
- Switching time on Protected capacity during failure is targetted at a maximum of 50 ms
- Service activation from Cable Station to Cable Station within 48 hrs
Revertive Switching on Protected Capacity
The standard configuration for Protected Capacity on the Southern Cross Network is non-revertive switching. This means that when a fault is detected, the path will automatically switch from the Main (Working) Path to its Protect (Standby) within a 50 ms period.
The circuit will stay in this configuration until either manually switched back or a fault situation causes another switch. This is normally satisfactory on the Southern Cross Network, where both Main and Protect paths are similar lengths, and thus there is little difference in latency.
However, in the case of Australia to New Zealand protected services, where the paths are unequal lengths and the difference in latency is quite evident, the shortest path is given priority. If a fault develops on the Main Path, which is the shortest path, the circuit will switch to the longer Protect Path, but if the Main Path remains fault free for a continuous five minute period, the circuit will automatically switch back to the Main Path.
However, if during the 5 minute period following the switch to the protect path a further problem is experienced on the main path, the timer counting the restore period resets and the 5 minute period starts again. If the main path does not remain fault free for the 5 minute timer period the circuit will not switch back to its main path.
2 DROP
A 2 Drop configuration provides two non-overlapping traffic circuits, each between two specific access points, configured in a ring around the network. Access points for the two circuits can be via the same or seperate cable stations in the source and/or destination country. The traffic circuits are neither protected or restored in the event of failure.

CAPACITY OPTIONS
UNIT SIZE | GROSS MEGABITS | Comments |
---|---|---|
STM-16 | 2,488.32 | SDH. Optical Interface. |
STM-64 | 9,953.28 | SDH. Optical Interface. |
2.5G | 2,488.32 | Transparent SDH. 2.5G. Optical |
10G | 9,953.28 | Transparent SDH. |
1GbE | 1,000 | EoSDH. Optical Interface. |
10GbE | 9,953.28 (W); 10,000 (L) | EoSDH. Optical interface. |
O40G | 40,319.22 | OTN. ODU-3. Optical. |
O10G | 10.04 Gbps | 10Gbps. ODU-2. Optical |
O100G | 112000 | OTN. ODU-4. Optical |
100GbE | 100,000 | EoODU4. 100GbE. Optical. Full Rate only. |
Important information
- Two Drop Capacity can be assigned on any Traffic Path
- Reassignment of Two Drop Capacity to other configurations and Traffic Paths is allowed
- MSP Network Interface protection is not available
- Circuits configured as non-overlapping around the ring
- The two Circuits can share common access points in a country
- Service activation from Cable Station to Cable Station within 48 hrs
3 DROP
A 3 Drop configuration provides three non-overlapping traffic circuits, each between two specific access points, configured in a ring around the network. Access points for any two circuits can be via the same or seperate cable stations in the source and/or destination country. The traffic circuits are neither protected or restored in the event of failure.

CAPACITY OPTIONS
UNIT SIZE | GROSS MEGABITS | Comments |
---|---|---|
STM-16 | 2,488.32 | SDH. Optical Interface. |
STM-64 | 9,953.28 | SDH. Optical Interface. |
2.5G | 2,488.32 | Transparent SDH. 2.5G. Optical |
10G | 9,953.28 | Transparent SDH. |
1GbE | 1,000 | EoSDH. Optical Interface. |
10GbE | 9,953.28 (W); 10,000 (L) | EoSDH. Optical interface. |
O40G | 40,319.22 | OTN. ODU-3. Optical. |
O10G | 10.04 Gbps | 10Gbps. ODU-2. Optical |
O100G | 112000 | OTN. ODU-4. Optical |
100GbE | 100,000 | EoODU4. 100GbE. Optical. Full Rate only. |
Important information
- Three Drop Capacity can be assigned only on the North-South or South Rings
- Reassignment of Three Drop Capacity to other configurations and Traffic Paths is allowed
- MSP Network Interface protection is not available
- Circuits configured as non-overlapping around the ring
- Any two Circuits can share common access points in a country
- Service activation from Cable Station to Cable Station within 48 hrs
4 DROP
A 4 Drop configuration provides four non-overlapping traffic circuits, each between two specific access points, configured in a ring around the network. Access points for any two circuits can be via the same or seperate cable stations in the source and/or destination country. The traffic circuits are neither protected or restored in the event of failure.

CAPACITY OPTIONS
UNIT SIZE | GROSS MEGABITS | Comments |
---|---|---|
STM-16 | 2,488.32 | SDH. Optical Interface. |
STM-64 | 9,953.28 | SDH. Optical Interface. |
2.5G | 2,488.32 | Transparent SDH. 2.5G. Optical |
10G | 9,953.28 | Transparent SDH. |
1GbE | 1,000 | EoSDH. Optical Interface. |
10GbE | 9,953.28 (W); 10,000 (L) | EoSDH. Optical interface. |
O40G | 40,319.22 | OTN. ODU-3. Optical. |
O10G | 10.04 Gbps | 10Gbps. ODU-2. Optical |
O100G | 112000 | OTN. ODU-4. Optical |
100GbE | 100,000 | EoODU4. 100GbE. Optical. Full Rate only. |
Important information
- Four Drop Capacity can be assigned only on the North-South Ring
- Reassignment of Four Drop Capacity to other configurations and Traffic Paths is allowed
- MSP Network Interface protection is not available
- Circuits configured as non-overlapping around the ring
- Any two Circuits can share common access points in a country
- Service activation from Cable Station to Cable Station within 48 hrs
RESTORED
An N-Drop Restored configuration mirrors its N-Drop counterpart and provides N (2,3, 4 or 5) non-overlapping traffic circuits, each between two specific access points, configured in a ring around the network. Access points for any two circuits can be via the same or seperate cable stations/ access points in the source and/or destination country.

CAPACITY OPTIONS
UNIT SIZE | GROSS MEGABITS | Comments |
---|---|---|
STM-16 | 2,488.32 | SDH. Optical Interface. |
STM-64 | 9,953.28 | SDH. Optical Interface. |
2.5G | 2,488.32 | Transparent SDH. 2.5G. Optical |
10G | 9,953.28 | Transparent SDH. |
10GbE | 9,953.28 (W); 10,000 (L) | EoSDH. Optical interface. |
O40G | 40,319.22 | OTN. ODU-3. Optical. |
O10G | 10.04 Gbps | 10Gbps. ODU-2. Optical |
O100G | 112000 | OTN. ODU-4. Optical |
100GbE | 100,000 | EoODU4. 100GbE. Optical. Full Rate only. |
Important information
- N-Drop Restored configuration is available only on the North-South Ring
- N-Drop Restored configuration available only for traffic rates of 2.5G or higher
- Restored circuits are targetted to be restored within 5 minutes
- Restored circuits are lower priority that Protected circuits
- MSP Network Interface protection is not available
- Circuits configured as non-overlapping around the ring
- Any two Circuits can share common access points in a country
- Service activation from Cable Station to Cable Station within 48 hrs
- Same Side Routing (SSR) is an available option applicable to 2 Drop Restored services only
CAPACITY OPTIONS