Horsham promised broadband boon

Victorian Labor has promised broadband internet speeds in Horsham will increase by up to 10 times as part of a $1.7-million pilot project.

Regional Development Minister Jaala Pulford has announced a partnership with Spirit Telecom that she said would ‘close the digital divide in Horsham’.

She said the new fixed-wireless service would cover all of Horsham and provide Horsham district businesses with access to the latest wireless infrastructure that supplied symmetrical gigabit broadband.

She said it would guarantee internet speeds on par with Melbourne and other major metropolitan centres in Australia.

Horsham Rural City Council has welcomed the opportunity to be part of the pilot.

Chief executive Sunil Bhalla said the commitment would allow highquality video conferencing and other emerging high-bandwidth applications, making it easier for people to work remotely.

“It also means Horsham will become even more attractive for businesses looking to relocate or start up in regional centres,” he said.

Ms Pulford said under the plan, Horsham central business district, Horsham enterprise park, aerodrome and Wimmera Intermodal Freight Terminal at Dooen would all have access to internet speeds up to one gigabit per second in both directions.

“The new network is expected to be capable of providing high-speed broadband to businesses and households outside of central Horsham, in locations such as Longerenong, Dooen and Haven,” she said.

“Spirit Telecom will offer the service to businesses at prices significantly lower than currently available for business-grade broadband services in regional Victoria.

“These prices will be competitive with the best available in metropolitan Melbourne.

“Horsham families will also benefit from the availability of faster speeds with residential plans likely to present much better value for money than current offers.”

New models

Ms Pulford said Spirit Telecom would build and maintain the network, part of the Labor government’s Connecting Regional Communities Program.

“The purpose of the pilot is to demonstrate new models for delivering high-speed broadband into regional areas, which genertally have limited availability of business-grade internet services,” she said.

“Project construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2019 but the first services, available in limited areas, could be offered as soon as mid next year.

“Only Labor is breaking down the digital divide. The Liberals and Nationals botched the National Broadband Network. Only Labor is delivering high-speed broadband in Horsham, to create new opportunities for local businesses and reduce the cost of broadband for families.”

Spirit Telecom managing director Geoff Neate said his organisation was proud to partner the State Government to provide a super-fast internet ‘ring’ around Horsham using latest technology.

“It’s positioning Spirit as a leader of high-speed internet in the telco’ industry,” he said.