Did you know: Darwin was the original birthplace of telecommunications in Australia when the telegraph line came ashore in 1871?
The Northern Territory ’s future is digital. The development of a highly secure, high speed network (known as Terabit Territory), and the impending arrival of a series of undersea international telecommunications cables to Darwin, will create a world-class capacity to support the development of new data storage centres and create the foundation for knowledge-based industries cluster. These developments will put the Territory and its capital, Darwin, at the forefront of the future digital economy.
Darwin is Australia ’s only capital city with full Fibre to the Premises connection to the National Broadband Network. And with the upgrades to terrestrial cabling connecting Darwin with main Australian metros as well as planned subsea cables connecting Darwin directly to Singapore, Indonesia, Timor Leste, Japan and the United States, Darwin will become Australia ’s most connected city to the Indo-Pacific region.
The Territory boasts a growing and diverse local digital industry that extends from digital design and communications, through to tech start-ups using drones, sensors and app development. With plans to establish a 100MW data centre close to the CBD progressing, the Territory will provide the digital ecosystems and key enabling infrastructure to support data heavy industries. This capability will complement planned major investments in defence, space, oil and gas and maritime services.
Powering the data centres will be the Tennant Creek-based Sun Cable project, which will be the Southern Hemisphere ’s largest solar farm, providing energy to both the Northern Territory and Singapore.
With Covid-19 accelerating demand in digital technologies and data centres, the Northern Territory is well positioned to be Australia ’s digital gateway to the Indo-Pacific.