Rollout to raise speeds Broadband boost

THOUSANDS of businesses and consumers in Townsville will be eligible for free upgrades to high-speed broadband of up to 1 gigabit per second under governmentowned NBN Co’s $4.5bn rollout of a Fibre to the Premises initiative.

Under new Business Fibre Zones, much of the city will be able to access the higher speeds and will pay the same wholesale rates as those in Brisbane’s CBD, a saving of thousands of dollars a year in retail costs.

NBN Co chief development officer, regional and remote Gavin Williams said the initiative would waive connection fees and installation costs, which could be tens of thousands of dollars, and level the playing field for regional centres like Townsville.

“I think it has to help the innovative businesses in Townsville and others who are looking to locate there. We are operating in a global economy so we need to access globally competitive infrastructure,” Mr Williams said.

When the government announced the move, it prompted former prime minister Kevin Rudd to call it a “monumental backflip” after the Coalition ditched Labor’s Fibre to the Premises plan for a cheaper Fibre to the Node model. But the government has said the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way people use the internet and the time is right for the upgrade, while Labor’s plan would have installed fibre everywhere before people were willing to pay for it. In Townsville, the “indicative” Business Fibre Zone includes much of the city north to Bohle River, south to Stuart and west to Condon.

Mr Williams said the zones were not “set and forget” and that NBN Co had established a $50m co-investment fund to work with councils and state governments to extend the business-grade services outside of the zones.

All businesses within the zones will have access to NBN’S wholesale premiumgrade business offering, business nbn™ Enterprise Ethernet, with wholesale prices for service providers reduced by up to 67 per cent.

Townsville Chamber of Commerce CEO Ross Mclennan said the investment was “great for business and commerce” and stressed the importance of businesses having an online presence so people could buy locally online.

Townsville Enterprise CEO Patricia O’callaghan said access to affordable and reliable digital connectivity had never been more important.