Chief Minister of the Northern Territory
Media Release
Growing the Territory's Digital Economy
3 April 2024
Major digital investors gathered in Darwin last week to discuss opportunities for investment and collaboration in the Northern Territory.
The digital sector is expected to contribute an addition $1-2 billion to the Territory economy over the next decade. This will be achieved through increased automation and process improvements within Territory businesses, as well as new industries entering the Territory, such as large data centres and associated companies servicing the sector.
Investment Territory hosted the NT Digital Investor Roundtable from 25 - 26 March, following a similar event held in October 2022, which sparked the acceleration of multiple digital infrastructure projects.
Attendees included senior representatives from Telstra Infra Co, BW Digital, Vocus, Inligo Networks and DCI Data Centres.
The two day event brought industry leaders together in the Territory to reinforce our positioning as Australia's next strategic digital hub, and to facilitate collaborations between major digital investors to help grow the local economy.
During the digital event, the Territory Government also awarded Major Project Status to Inligo Network's Unite Cable System.
The Unite Cable System is a planned high-capacity terrestrial cable, linking Darwin with Adelaide and Melbourne.
The Unite project has an estimated CAPEX of $225 million and will connect with Inligo's Asia Connect Cable 1 (ACC-1) System in Darwin, connecting the growth regions of Southeast Asia (Singapore and Indonesia), Timor Leste, Guam, and through to Los Angeles, USA.
Construction of the system will commence in 2024 and is due to be completed in late 2027.
Major Project Status is a formal recognition of a project's significance through its contribution to the economy.
Quotes attributable to Chief Minister, Eva Lawler:
"Darwin is located within 50 milliseconds to more than 500 million people and offers a secure and stable location for digital, data, technology and telecommunication companies to start-up, relocate or expand their operations to service the local, Australian and Indo Pacific markets. This is why the Territory Labor Government is investing in this industry, and why we held this Digital Roundtable.
"The Unite Cable System is a planned terrestrial cable, linking Inligo's Asia Connect Cable System in Darwin with Adelaide, and later to Melbourne. It will then connect onto Inligo's ACC-1 subsea cable.
"The new system will provide an alternate, low latency, high capacity transmission service path between customers in Australia, with connections into South East Asia and the Indo Pacific."
Quotes attributable to Brian Evans, Chief Executive Officer, Inligo Networks:
"I am very proud Inligo has achieved Major Project Status for our Unite Cable system. It is a welcomed recognition of the highly strategic nature of our investment and the important role, both geographical and geopolitical, Darwin will play as a digital hub in the region.
The unique combination of ACC-1 and Unite cable systems, will position Darwin as an Australian digital gateway, ideally positioned to support the forecast growth in digital and high technology industries within Australia's north and to enable true digital connectivity into Southeast Asia. With the support of the Northern Territory Government, through the Major Projects initiative, Inligo is excited to help drive and encourage further investments within the region."
Northern Territory Government
