Apparently riches would pour through that cable into Northland almost as fast as would data, and similar local industries and associated jobs would develop off the back of it.
The cable has not been started and some pundits say there's only a 50:50 chance it will hit the seabed inside the next two years. It is not the first promised, but not yet in sight, trans-Pacific super-fibre link the announcement of which was accompanied by news of internet providers lining up to buy capacity on the cable.
Even Mitten and co say their new data centre is not reliant on that cable coming in.
A $125 million development sounds good and will generate support as well as a feel-good factor. Add it to last week's news that Northland is ahead of other regions in business confidence and this week's news that this is New Zealand's fifth most important tourism region, and we really want to believe in either the trickle-down or the exponential growth effect. Sooner rather than later, we hope, it will mean wage earners have more in their pockets, the region's appalling poverty-related statistics will improve, more jobs and money will be generated locally.
That is what a publicly-funded regional economic development unit needs to focus on; that, and ensuring its leading lights are above reproach.
Naturally, as an entrepreneur and head of an economic unit, Mitten saw business opportunities - windows. Northland Inc's chief executive David Wilson says there is no conflict of interest in the connection between Mitten's public job, which included pushing for increased data capacity in Northland, and his new private job.
But Mitten was paid well from Northland's public purse to investigate money-making enterprises. We look forward to seeing who will reap the rewards, how things trickle down, the exponential benefits.
