Hawaiki's chief executive Remi Galasso has previously said he hoped construction on the cable could begin in 2015.

A secret site near Whangarei will be the landing point for a proposed $400 million submarine internet cable linking New Zealand, Australia and the United States.

The cable, to be built by Auckland firm Hawaiki Cable and backed by New Zealand investor Sinclair Investments, would compete with the Southern Cross Cable network which carries almost all internet traffic to and from New Zealand.

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In 2013 Hawaiki Group said Pacific nations located next to the fibre-optic cable including American Samoa, would be able to connect to it.

The Government had also said it would make a $15m contribution to companies considering building an international telecommunications cable between New Zealand, Australia and the United States.

Regional economic development agency Northland Inc chief executive David Wilson said the Hawaiki Cable would land at a site near Bream Bay, located between Whangarei and Mangawhai Heads.

Wilson said it was hoped the cable project would provide much improved internet services for New Zealanders.

The Telecommunications Users Association, the Institute of Information Technology Professionals and InternetNZ have all previously welcomed the project.

The cable could be operating by 2017 and would be the second fibre optic cable network and third physical cable linking New Zealand with the rest of the world, Wilson said.

It would be able to carry vast quantities of electronic data between Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and the west coast of the United States directly, but also to the rest of the world, Wilson said.

Wilson said the Hawaiki Cable project was a critical piece of infrastructure that would attract further information and communication technologies investment to New Zealand and Northland.