Scaling up in the AI ecosystem

How do you plan for the next five years in an AI-paced world?

AI is reshaping how networks are planned, built and consumed, and the pressure on network leaders to keep up has never been higher.

Deciding on future capacity and connectivity mix, when business imperatives and customer demands change in the span of weeks rather than years, is a critical challenge for network leaders. Rigid, one-size-fits-all solutions don't offer the flexibility network teams need across capacity or control options

The pressure to get these planning decisions right is significant. AI workloads are pushing requirements toward multi-terabit capacity, distributed across more sites, on tighter timelines than traditional infrastructure planning cycles have typically accommodated. As network leaders work with data centre teams and lines of business to deliver connectivity for the new AI ecosystems, the days of forecasting three years out and building to match have gone.

What that calls for is infrastructure that provides a runway for scalability. A set of capabilities, options and products that meet today's requirements at the throughput and performance that AI workloads demand, and can be expanded, reconfigured, or scaled without starting over each time the plan changes. The Aura Network gives hyperscalers, neocloud providers and AI frontier labs the foundation to enable scaling of AI ecosystems.

What the Aura Network delivers

The Aura Network is designed for this environment. We built it to offer the capabilities to help businesses grow and thrive in the AI economy.

Capacity and headroom to scale

The Aura Network is designed to support up to 6.3x greater terabits-per-second capacity compared to existing industry-standard fibre network architecture, with capacity built for the unpredictable data surges that AI workloads generate. Capacity can be provisioned to meet current demand and expanded as requirements change, without multiple redesigns or rebuilds. That's infrastructure on tap, rather than a fixed commitment negotiated at the start.

Speed to market

With over 8,500km of fibre built (as of July 2026), provisioning can occur on infrastructure that is already in place. Aura Network Ready for Service routes (as of Sept 2026) include Sydney-Canberra-Melbourne Coastal, Sydney-Canberra Central, Sydney-Perth Direct, and Adelaide-Wilmington Direct.

Our API-driven Wavelength and Direct Spectrum delivery is designed to help reduce provisioning timelines for 400G services, aligning network delivery to your business’s pace of deployment.

Drive operational efficiency

The Aura Network enables expansion into national reach and also international pathways through sub-sea infrastructure investments without the capital expenditure and construction timelines of building your own routes, and without needing to establish local network operations in every market.

Choice of control

Different operating models call for different levels of network control. High-capacity intercity routes are available with managed lit services, semi-managed Direct Spectrum, or fully customer-managed Dark Fibre. The network is purpose-built for flexible integration into existing environments and can be customised for hyperscale workloads through custom-built point-to-point routes.

High resilience for business continuity

Dual-path inland and coastal routes, combined with optional product features, enable extremely high availability for sovereign and critical AI workloads. Corning SMF-28 Ultra-Low Loss fibre maximises unregenerated reach, reducing round-trip time and hardware costs.

Integration with existing AI infrastructure assets

Direct fibre links between data centres across capital cities deliver the scale, speed, and low latency AI-driven workloads depend on. That's the model used by Microsoft, whose Australian data centres are connected via the Aura Network. The Aura Network also integrates tightly with submarine cable landing stations, satellite ground stations, and third-party data centres in Australia. That extends the connectivity story beyond the fibre itself into the wider set of infrastructure that AI ecosystem growth depends on.

Infrastructure products for scalability, flexibility and control

We've made it easy to choose the right product on each route for your business’ needs. Three products, each with different capacity and control characteristics, and each able to scale with growth, use the power of the Aura Network. Some deployments call for Dark Fibre on a core Sydney to Melbourne link, Wavelength between other sites, or Direct Spectrum somewhere in between. You can mix and match to suit the requirements of every part of your network.

Aura Wavelength

Aura Wavelength delivers dedicated high-bandwidth, point-to-point backhaul connectivity between network points of presence. It delivers dedicated fibre performance that includes:

• Bandwidth options in capital city metro areas, inter-city routes and major regional areas of 100Gbps and 400Gbps
• Wavelength is a fully-managed optical fibre network, with optional proactive monitoring that identifies and alerts on potential faults before they affect service.
• Options for additional resilience and redundancy are available on existing fibre paths, including Core Restoration on 100Gbps and 400Gbps Wavelength connections across six inter-capital routes.

Aura Direct Spectrum

Aura Direct Spectrum suits those who want more control. It offers an eighth, a quarter, or a half fibre pair, providing scalable bandwidth from approximately 3.8 Tbps to 15.2 Tbps. You can bring your own equipment and self-manage the service.

Designed for organisations that demand granular network control without the overhead of full dark fibre, Direct Spectrum delivers exactly the optical slice you need. By provisioning fractional optical spectrum, you retain complete ownership of your terminal equipment and management stack while using our proven Australian fibre infrastructure. This model removes rigid legacy commitments, allowing you to scale bandwidth incrementally as traffic patterns shift or AI-driven workloads spike.

Aura Dark Fibre

Aura Dark Fibre is the highest capacity, fully customer-managed option. It provides a dedicated part of the Aura intercity fibre network, moving data at approximately 60 Tbps to 80 Tbps between capital cities.* You have the options of a direct express city to city solution, or a more regional solution involving on- and off-ramps to greenfield locations. 

Aura Dark Fibre gives you full control over network configuration and equipment. Telstra Aura Network passes through amplification sites over the path with end points including data centres, your premise, or non-premise locations for flexible digital foundations. It also feeds into metro fibre rings in each capital city.  We can also assist with service management, whether it’s the service set-up, equipment break-fix work, or planned maintenance during the lifecycle of your service.

Infrastructure that keeps up

If you're planning a network today for the next several years, it might feel like you need a crystal ball to predict the demands of an AI future. We built the Aura Network to help you. It is network infrastructure that helps you manage whatever demand emerges, at the pace and scale required, without being renegotiated or rebuilt every time requirements shift.

The Aura Network’s core capabilities of Wavelength, Direct Spectrum, and Dark Fibre reduce the need to choose between control and convenience. You can leverage Aura Wavelength for rapid, managed 100Gbps and 400Gbps connectivity in metro and inter-city routes or scale up to Aura Direct Spectrum or Aura Dark Fibre as your requirements evolve. This product flexibility means you can mix and match to suit the requirements of every part of your network, ensuring your infrastructure grows with your business.

To learn more about the Aura Network and our products, visit our website.

*Our desktop simulation for the Sydney to Melbourne ULL Express link has set a new benchmark for fibre capacity over long-distance networks at over 83 Tbps per fibre pair (May 2024).