Conroy comments on Perth to Gerladton link

Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Senator Stephen Conroy has recently complimented those involved in the completion of the Perth to Geraldton fibre backbone link.

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Senator Stephen Conroy has recently spoken about the completed Perth to Geraldton fibre backbone link and has complimented those that have been involved in building this link for getting the work done on time as well as on budget on behalf of the government.

Conroy stated: “This link is the first building block of the National Broadband Network (NBN) in Western Australia. The new Perth to Geraldton fibre link means more choice, greater competition and better value services. It means faster and cheaper broadband for families and small businesses in the Mid West.  The delivery of this fibre backbone infrastructure will allow more retail service providers to offer improved services for around 35,000 people along the route. Previously, retail service providers only had access to one carrier’s infrastructure, but this new fibre backbone will allow them to compete on a level playing field.”

Labor Senator for Western Australia Louise Pratt added that the new link would help Australia in its bid to host the Square Kilometer Array telescope. She said: “The SKA will be one of the largest international science projects of the 21st century, with its primary purpose to advance discovery-based science in the fields of astronomy and astrophysics. The main SKA site will be located at Murchison Observatory, 315km north east of Geraldton. The CSIRO is currently constructing a fibre optic link between the Murchison Observatory and Geraldton and the new Perth to Geraldton link will provide an affordable, high capacity link that can be used to transmit large volumes of scientific data for processing.”

Complimenting those involved in the project, Conroy added: “Backbone infrastructure provides the communication links that connect our towns, cities and rural areas to each other and the world. I congratulate Nextgen Networks on the completion of this important work and I look forward to seeing other links across Australia completed this year. The fibre backbone program is just the beginning of the Gillard Government’s commitment to deliver affordable, high speed broadband to all Australians through the NBN.”

Source – DBCDE