Tech millionaire flies in for talks on Darwin to be international digital gateway

EXCLUSIVE: AN Aussie tech millionaire planning to build a $1.5bn data superhighway has flown to the Top End to discuss his ambition for Darwin to be an international digital gateway

HyperOne want to do a $1.5 billion data super highway project across Australia of which Darwin will be an epicentre. Bevan Slattery and Kate Jones are in town for discussions with interested parties. Photograph: Che Chorley

THE Aussie tech millionaire planning to build a $1.5bn data superhighway has flown to Darwin with his HyperOne team to meet Chief Minister Michael Gunner and representatives of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, to discuss his ambition for Darwin to be an international digital gateway.

Rockhampton born Bevan Slattery, described as a serial entrepreneur, has been a founder of several successful IT and telco businesses over nearly 20 years, including fibre optic business PIPE Networks, now owned by TPG, and data centre business NEXTDC.

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Mr Slattery’s business interests include building undersea cables, which transport 95 per cent of all internet data around the world.

Following his talks with the Chief Minister, Mr Slattery and new team addition, former Palaszczuk government minister Kate Jones, briefed Darwin businesses and Defence on HyperOne’s intention to create new major interconnection points for more international undersea cables into Australia from Asia, as far as the Americas and Antarctica.

HyperOne has revealed its ambition for Darwin to be a hi-tech international gateway SUPPLIED

“We talked to the Chief Minister about local benefit, the existing industries such as mining, Defence, gas, agriculture and so on. And then we talked about future industries, which is space, satellite ground stations, massive hyperscale data centres.

“The Northern Territory has some of the most extraordinary assets in the region. It has unbelievable access to massive amounts of solar energy, reliable gas energy, plentiful land.

“Darwin has 500 million people that are within 50 milliseconds in telecommunication. Now that’s 20th of a second and when you have half a billion people within 50 milliseconds you have a massive opportunity for a new internet hub effectively stationed in Darwin.

HyperOne want to do a $1.5 billion data super highway project across Australia of which Darwin will be an epicentre. Bevan Slattery and Kate Jones are in town for discussions with interested parties including the Northern Territory Government. Photograph: Che Chorley

“With that comes massive data centre investment, where literally billions of dollars are being invested by international giants looking for a place that is safe, that’s close to Asia, that can service things and has great green energy and secure energy.”

Mr Slattery said with the current geopolitical instability in the region, Darwin was looking pretty good.

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“There is unprecedented opportunity for it to become the region’s leading, secure and stable hub for future industries and jobs … give it the true connectivity and this can happen,” he said.

“We are here to sort that out. Connectivity will bring not just future industries but it helps existing industries. It will mean new Territory jobs in construction, jobs in maintaining, but more importantly there is no major industry that happens without connectivity.

“So HyperOne’s superhighway will bring the connectivity of Australia into the NT and beyond.”