The Palaszczuk Government will connect state-owned optical fibre to the North Queensland Regional Data Centre to provide better internet for up to half a million people.
Innovation Minister Kate Jones today announced the government would provide $350,000 to Townsville City Council to connect the NQRDC to the QCN Fibre network to create the jobs of the future in North Queensland.
“This has the potential to provide hundreds of thousands of North Queenslanders a better internet service,” she said.
“We’ve unlocked thousands of kilometres of Queensland Government-owned optical fibre to improve speeds.
“By connecting our optical fibre assets to the regional data centre, we’re making sure North Queenslanders can make the most of the assets taxpayers already own.
“This will pave the way for faster and more reliable internet when the QCN Fibre Network comes online next year.”
Member for Townsville Scott Stewart said today’s announcement was vital for jobs growth in North Queensland.
“A strong internet connection is vital to run a business and create jobs in North Queensland – which is the government’s top priority.
“Today’s announcement goes a long way towards addressing the shortcomings of the Federal Government’s NBN.
“We’ll continue to work very closely with Townsville City Council to understand how we can support the city to become one of the most connected regions in North Australia.
“The trickle-on effect of this investment will also help to attract new business and create the jobs of the future in Townsville.”
Townsville City Council Mayor Jenny Hill said the NQRDC was a key piece of digital infrastructure, built in partnership with Queensland’s leading centre services provider iseek, that supported future data needs and provided high quality, secure data storage and technology infrastructure services for both business and the local community.
“This investment really puts Townsville on the map to national and global companies and organisations such as banks and IT companies to regionally diversify their technology footprint by leveraging the NQRDC,” she said.
“The announcement today by the Queensland Government aligns with our Smart City Strategy and vision of creating an innovative and connected city that will attract investment, create business opportunities and boost employment,” Ms Hill said.
Jason Gomersall is founder and CEO of internet service provider iseek.
Mr Gomersall said the NQRDC was built to fill a gap in data connectivity options for North Queensland. “It became apparent that an enterprise class data centre was essential to the longer term prospects of Townsville and Far North Queensland,” he said.
“NQRDC will support local economic growth by providing the foundation for a vibrant digital economy,” Mr Gomersall said.
Innovation Minister Kate Jones said the Townsville-based innovation project was one of a number of key job‑creating projects in regional Queensland as part of the government’s new Building our Innovation Economy – Advance Queensland Strategy.
“These projects are about future-proofing key industries to create jobs in regional Queensland,” he she said.
“Through Advance Queensland, we’ve created 17,800 jobs – 47 per cent in regional Queensland.”
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Quelle/Source: Mirage News, 12.12.2019
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