Brand Tasmania Newsletter, December, 2008, Issue 89

Broadband internet speed will increase and prices for internet access will fall in Tasmania when Aurora Energy and Basslink Pty Ltd begin competing against each other and monopoly-holder Telstra in 2009. An agreement signed by Aurora and Basslink in November was hailed by the Premier, David Bartlett, as “the modern equivalent of the commencement of hydro-industrialisation, almost a century ago, in terms of its ability to drive new investment and development.”

Aurora and Singapore-owned Basslink both gave ground to resolve a 12-month impasse over use of the fibre-optic cable that was laid across Bass Strait with the natural gas pipeline in 2004. The announcement followed soon after the official opening of Hobart’s $30 million Tasmanian ICT Centre and the distribution of $6.7 million to 14 Tasmanian groups from the fourth and final round of the Intelligent Island Market Access and Partnership Program (MAPP).

Activation of the Government-owned $30 million fibre ‘backbone’ will end a situation where moving data from Hobart to Melbourne was up to 10 times more costly than moving the same data from Melbourne to Adelaide and was dearer than some international routes. “This agreement not only places Tasmania in a good position to aggressively attract interstate and global businesses, it is also very exciting news for existing Tasmanian small businesses and mum-and-dad broadband users alike,” Mr Bartlett said. “It will open opportunities for more internet service providers to enter the Tasmanian market, giving more choice and cheaper prices to Tasmanian businesses and Tasmanian consumers … It means that information-intensive businesses like Betfair, call centres, data centres, financial-processing centres, multimedia content suppliers and so on – can make Tasmania their first-choice location. And all of that adds up to a greater number of clever jobs for Tasmanians.”

Local Internet provider, Netspace, said it was planning a significant investment in its broadband infrastructure as a result of the development. A spokesman for consumer action group, Digital Tasmania, Andrew Connor, said users stood to save up to $15 a month once the cable was activated. "It is now economical for ISPs [internet service providers] to roll out their own equipment, enabling faster downloads and more innovative services to be made available at lower prices," he said.

Telstra Countrywide's Noel Hunt welcomed the announcement, but predicted it would not have a dramatic effect on broadband retail pricing. "In terms of competition, our customers already pay exactly the same for Telstra Bigpond here as they do anywhere else in Australia," he said.

Meanwhile, the State and Commonwealth governments have jointly opened the Tasmanian ICT Centre, which is run by CSIRO and jointly funded by the two governments through the Intelligent Island program. The centre employs 30 highly qualified research staff and three PhD students under a joint scholarship program with the University of Tasmania. It has attracted world-class research projects focused on water resources, marine environments, energy use, aquaculture, and health management.

The centre works collaboratively with Tasmanian ICT companies and has been described by Mr Bartlett as part of “the dams, poles and wires of the 21st century.”

In another facet of the Intelligent Island program, the final distribution of MAPP funding brought the total number of projects it has supported to 32 and its total disbursement to $18 million.

The latest round of funding includes:

For more information about the MAPP program and other business assistance, go to: www.development.tas.gov.au