$400 million plan to turn Perth into a global bridge for internet traffic

Roger Cook has boasted Perth could become the Dubai of data, with a $400 million sub-sea cable set to turn WA into the middle point of global internet connections.

The Premier was in Henderson on Friday to inspect the world’s largest submarine cable installation vessel and left his mark, signing Australia’s first “hypercable” that can transmit 400 terabits of data per second, 25 times faster than previously possible.

“A movie is like a gigabyte, so you can do 400,000 movies in a second. It’s a lot of Netflix,” Subco chief executive Bevan Slattery said.

Mr Cook called it an “incredibly exciting” project that will turn Perth into a data hub for high-tech industries.

“Perth is about to become the equivalent of the Dubai airport for international data,” he said.

“We are going to be the focal point as companies and governments around the world seek to diversify their global data links to continue to make sure that in these globally uncertain times everyone stays connected.”

The sub-sea cable will stretch 5000 kilometres on the ocean floor, transmitting from Perth to Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, but Mr Cook and Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King suggested the “SMAP” project should be renamed “PAMS” because “Perth comes first”.

“This project will go a long way to helping the people of Sydney and Melbourne to overcome that feeling of isolation they have long endured being so far from WA, the engine room of our national economy,” Ms King told reporters.

“Resilience in our connectivity is really important and, all jokes aside about helping Sydney and Melbourne being more connected to Asia, that resilience in our transcontinental communications and data transference is a matter of national significance and national sovereignty.”

The cable connecting Perth to the Eastern seaboard will combine with cables already connecting Perth to Singapore and Oman, creating a global conduit for data storage.

“Perth is at an incredibly strategic location to secure deep water, reliable, resilient connectivity needs with great sovereign capability,” Mr Slattery said.

“That’s why I’ve chosen Perth as being the new super hub, for me anyway, for the region.

“Google has also announced they’re putting three cables in here as well (because) if you can get to Sydney, we’ll take you to Perth and then we can give you access to everywhere in the Indian Ocean.”