(Telecompaper) Telecom New Zealand, Vodafone and Telstra announced a non-binding memorandum of understanding to co-invest in the construction of a new submarine cable between Auckland and Sydney. The new cable, tentatively titled the Tasman Global Access (TGA) Cable, is expected to boost New Zealand's international connectivity as well as strengthen links into Asian markets. The total cost of the TGA cable is expected to be less than USD 60 million. The cable will incorporate three fibre pairs with a design capacity of 30Tbps, approximately 300 times the current internet data demand out of New Zealand. The TGA partners expect to finalise the design within the next few months, with a likely completion date of mid to late 2014. New Zealand already has four cable links to Australia, but local operators said they are seeing a rise in traffic from Australia as more businesses establish servers in New Zealand. The new link will also give New Zealand greater redundancy and access to Asutralia's stronger international connectivity onwards to the US and Asia.