An optical communications apparatus (200), comprising: a branching unit (150) for connecting a first, second and third optical cable (110, 120, 130), each of the first, second and third optical cables comprising an optical fibre, the branching unit (150) comprising a branch optical path arranged to route a fixed pre-determined range of signal wavelengths (161, 162) that are input to the branching unit (150) from the optical fibre of the first cable (110) to the optical fibre of the third optical cable (130); a switching module (210) comprising at least one optical switch, the at least one optical switch having a bypass configuration in which a connection via the branch optical path to a distal portion of the third optical cable (130) is bypassed, so that all signal wavelengths (161, 162) input to the branching unit (150) from the optical fibre of the first cable (110) are routed to the optical fibre of the second optical cable (120) without first being routed through the connection to the distal portion of the third optical cable (130), and a branch connecting configuration in which the branch optical path is enabled so that a fixed pre-determined range of signal wavelengths (161, 162) that are input to the branching unit (150) from the optical fibre of the first cable (110) are routed to the optical fibre of the distal portion of the third optical cable (130).