Telstra expands Aura Network to strengthen Australia's east-west digital corridor

New Perth-Sydney route adds high-capacity connectivity and resilience as cloud, AI and international data flows drive demand across Australia 

LONDON, Oct. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Telstra has launched the Perth-Sydney route of its Aura Network, expanding its next-generation fibre network and strengthening connectivity between Western Australia, the eastern states and international markets.

The new route is the longest route in the network and strengthens Australia's east-west digital corridor, connecting major cloud, data centre and business hubs of Australia's eastern states to Perth, connecting into the western global subsea cable networks. The Aura Network provides organisations with greater capacity and route diversity to move data across the country and connect with international markets.

Steven Worrall, CEO, Telstra Digital Infrastructure, said: "Western Australia is home to some of the world's most geographically distributed and technology-intensive industries, from remote operations centres to increasingly automated mining and industrial operations.

"As these industries become increasingly data-driven, the connectivity linking them to customers, partners, cloud and compute is becoming just as important as the technology deployed on the ground.

"The Perth-Sydney route adds another high-capacity pathway between Australia's west and east, helping businesses move data more reliably across the country and strengthening the connections between WA's growing digital economy and global markets.

"Western Australia is increasingly emerging as a strategic digital and defence hub in the Indo-Pacific, which makes this investment in low-latency, resilient new infrastructure even more strategic."

The launch comes as new Oxford Economics research, Australia's Western Gateway: WA's Digital Opportunity, commissioned by Telstra, finds Western Australia's digital economy could grow from $16.8 billion in FY25 to approximately $89.1 billion by FY40 under an accelerated digital adoption scenario. The report highlights high-capacity connectivity as a key enabler of growth across industries including mining, defence, and professional and financial services, while reinforcing WA's role as a connection point between Australia and international markets.

The Perth-Sydney route forms part of Telstra's broader $1.8 billion investment in Australia's digital infrastructure. Together with Aura's other routes, it strengthens connectivity between Australia's major cities, data centres, cloud regions and international gateways.

Expanding Aura's national network

The activation of the Aura Network's Perth-Sydney route marks another milestone in the network, with 9,000km built of a planned 14,000km and active routes across Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. It is designed to provide up to 35 times more fibre capacity per path and greater resilience than conventional fibre routes.

The network is already supporting demand from cloud, AI and digital infrastructure providers, with organisations including Microsoft and Google securing capacity on the Aura Network to help meet growing connectivity requirements.

Built with two separate fibre pathways, one for express traffic and another with "on" and "off" ramps to support connectivity to regional Australia, the network gives customers flexibility in how they access capacity. Organisations can purchase access to a dedicated part of the network, customise and scale capacity as needed, or use a fully managed service.

Steven Worrall said: "Cloud, AI and data centres are changing where and how data is generated, processed and consumed. Resilient connections between Australia's major digital hubs will be increasingly important as that demand grows.

"The Perth-Sydney route adds another high-capacity pathway across the country, helping businesses connect Australia's west and east and the global digital networks they increasingly depend on."

About Telstra Digital Infrastructure

Telstra Digital Infrastructure is Telstra's integrated digital infrastructure business, delivering end-to-end digital infrastructure solutions across Australia and international markets. Through an extensive portfolio of fibre, duct, subsea cable, data centre, tower, satellite infrastructure and engineering services, we provide the connectivity, platforms and services that underpin business growth, digital transformation and the evolving demands of the AI economy.

Combining deep technical expertise, decades of operational experience and a long history of supporting customers across Australia, Asia-Pacific and beyond, we connect businesses, markets and communities through secure, reliable and high-performance digital infrastructure. 

Report methodology

WA's digital economy comprises the core digital sector, which covers technology industries that produce and deliver digital goods and services, and digitally enabled activity, which captures the contribution of digital technology embedded in the factors of production used across other industries. The accelerated scenario illustrates the additional economic opportunity available if WA increases its digital intensity and closes part of the gap with Australia's leading digital economies. Econometric modelling shows that increased fibre capacity has the potential to increase Gross State Product and job creation by enabling Telstra's customers to lift output and productivity through greater adoption of cloud computing, AI, and other digital technologies. The construction and operations impact follows a standard Input-Output framework widely used for assessing the economic footprint of businesses, industries and projects.