Vocus has appointed engineering services company UGL, part of the CIMIC Group, as its development partner for the first stage of a significant national fibre project linking Sydney and Melbourne, Australia.
The collaboration marks the start of work on the Australian Digital Infrastructure Platform (ADIP), a long-term Vocus programme aimed at strengthening digital connectivity across Australia and the Asia-Pacific.
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UGL will be responsible for an early works programme that includes cost modelling, design, field validation, engineering, project management, stakeholder engagement, and survey.
These activities are intended to prepare the Sydney-Melbourne route for construction, with work scheduled to begin this month.
The completed ducted fibre network is expected to be operational in 2029 and will have capacity for up to 6,912 fibre cores (3,456 fibre pairs).
Vocus estimates the Sydney-Melbourne network will require a capital investment of A$500m ($357m) and generate more than 1,000 high-value jobs.
The project aims to meet rising customer demand for high-capacity, resilient solutions that support AI, cloud services, data centres, and digital infrastructure.
Vocus chief technology officer Nikos Katinakis said: “We launched ADIP because Australia clearly needs a new generation of digital infrastructure to support growth in AI, cloud and data-intensive workloads.
“A ducted long-haul network gives us the flexibility to add capacity over time without breaking ground again or interfering with customers’ active networks, while providing greater resilience and protection against cable cuts.”
“We have selected UGL because of its long track record of successful delivery of Australian digital infrastructure. Selecting them as our development partner is the start of detailed route design and readiness activities on this route.”
The ADIP project was launched in June 2026 to address expected shortfalls in digital infrastructure.
Projections cited by the company indicate that by 2030, data centre capacity in Australia could triple, with AI workloads driving a large share of future fibre demand.
The Sydney-Melbourne corridor, currently handling 40% of the nation’s long-haul data traffic, is forecast to be undersupplied without new investment.
UGL managing director Sam Goldsmith said: “UGL has a long history of delivering complex infrastructure that underpins Australia’s growth and prosperity. This partnership expands UGL’s role in Australia’s digital future.
“By supporting the development of next-generation fibre infrastructure, we are helping create the connectivity backbone required to support growing demand from data centres, cloud services and AI-enabled technologies.”
The collaboration is positioned to support later stages of the ADIP as the platform expands nationally.
