Net benefit for light rail

THE third stage of the light rail will be partially funded by revenue from a high-speed internet cable scheduled to go online after the Commonwealth Games.

The Gold Coast City Council has spent more than $5.5 million on the 45km fibre optic cable along the existing tram route to boost the city’s traffic management camera system and security network during the Games.

But after the April bonanza, the bandwidth will be leased to a telecom which in turn will sell connections to up to 50,000 businesses, in time generating millions for council coffers.

Mayor Tom Tate said the money generated would help fund infrastructure upgrades, including the light rail’s extension south from Broadbeach to Burleigh Heads and to the border.

He said it would make the Gold Coast even more attract- ive to big international corporations as the demand for high-speed internet grew.

“In the future budgets we will get a positive cashflow from this (cable),” he said.

“We will be offering it to businesses and you will see a positive cashflow from this into the economy which means we will be able to invest in other forms of infrastructure.

“I like to call it our golden cable because it will offer speeds 10 times as fast as the NBN and places such as the health and knowledge precinct will see a big boost.”

Funds raised through the leasing of the cable would go into general revenue which is used to fund infrastructure projects, such as the light rail and the cultural precinct.

The light rail’s third stage is in the planning stage, with more than $10 million being spent on a feasibility study.

Stage 3A will run from Broadbeach to Burleigh Heads and further fibre optic cabling is expected to be installed under the tracks.

Once online, the cable will allow for every business within 1km of the tram line to be connected to speeds of up to 100mb/s.

A further 20 kilometres of high-speed cable is being laid through the streets of Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach, as well as the Southport Broadwater Parklands.

Gold Coast North Chamber of Commerce president Martin Brady said he expected more businesses to move towards the coastal strip to be in range of the high-speed internet.

“This is something a lot of modern businesses need as high-speed internet continues to become increasingly important,” he said.

IN THE FUTURE BUDGETS WE WILL GET A POSITIVE CASHFLOW FROM THIS (CABLE)

MAYOR TOM TATE