BUSINESSES across the city have been urged to register their interest in accessing state-of-the-art gigabit internet to help shape infrastructure provision for the Mount Gambier roll out.
An information session was held yesterday at City Hall to provide business leaders in the community with some insight into the $1m State Government funded GigCity project.
Mount Gambier has been selected as one of two regional centres in South Australia to secure the GigCity network, which is expected to boast broadband speeds of one gigabit per second.
MIMP Connecting Solutions has secured the tender for the project, with general manager Stephen Fitzgerald revealing plans were in their infancy.
“We are going to be deploying some pretty exciting technology here, which will provide a gigabit service to businesses around Mount Gambier,” he said.
“We need interest from people and for businesses to register addresses, so we can then complete our network site designs and build it so that it fits the city’s needs.”
Mr Fitzgerald said community interest had been overwhelming since the project was first announced.
“Since we announced it 10 days ago, it has gone nuts,” he said.
“Technology-based businesses have shown a particular interest, but there are not too many businesses now that do not have some level of technology, so most can benefit from this new project.”
He said people were generally excited about the opportunity to access internet speeds 10-times faster than top tier NBN plans currently available.
“It’s state-of-the-art, it’s leading edge in performance and technology,” he said.
“It is an amazing opportunity for businesses within the city to access this great tool.”
Mr Fitzgerald said he anticipated some businesses would be able to access the service in October.
“The beauty of wireless technology is that it can be rolled out very quickly and it’s versatile,” he said.
“Once we have the plans in place, we will move into that build phase and have people connected pretty quickly.”
While it is anticipated businesses will grab the opportunity with both hands, the technology is also expected to drive industry growth.
Mount Gambier Mayor Lynette Martin said the coup was a “game-changer”.
“We have the liveability and now we will have the connectivity, which will hopefully attract businesses from capital cities and other regions to come here,” she said.
“We encourage businesses to get on board.”
She said economic development was a huge priority for the council and the GigCity program was another step in the right direction.
“We want to create the conditions to attract businesses to our city, grow our population and in turn benefit the whole economy,” Ms Martin said.
