The submarine cable project is well underway
As announced in a statement below by the Sunshine Coast Council, the submarine broadband cable is on its way. “The Sunshine Coast Council is facilitating a new international submarine cable landing to south east Queensland by 2020, which will stimulate local business, generate new investment, and improve telecommunications diversity to Australia’s east coast.
The Sunshine Coast International Broadband Submarine Cable Project is aligned to our region positioning itself as Australia’s leading smart city region.
This game-changer will transform the Sunshine Coast and open up enormous opportunities for the region and the discerning investor”
The Maroochydore CBD data centre
I attended the council briefing this morning to learn some more and attempt to answer some of my questions and concerns. Having been a sceptic in the past, I am a convert with a few caveats.
I have no doubt that the project will be a commercial success for the region. This coupled with the international airport and the new CBD will guarantee our future economic growth.
But how does a sub-sea super highway help if we are still using dirt tracks into homes and businesses?
If the cable lands in Maroochydore, then transports directly to Brisbane where there already exists the Data Centre infrastructure to make use of it, it is of nominal benefit to us.
Fortunately, Council have already considered these issues. Whilst we are over a year away from the “landing”, wheels are already in motion to establish our own data centre on the coast. Will the big boys come and replicate their capabilities on the coast? Time will tell.
Will innovative organisations be able to tap into this data; almost certainly yes.
As for dirt roads, there is new technology on trial today that will change the dirt roads into super highways of the sky. The timing could not be better for our region as the commercialisation of both the submarine cable and the super highways of the sky are due early 2020.
The super highways of the sky need access to massive, affordable bandwidth in Maroochydore. That is the next phase in this most visionary of projects.
Andy Whitmore, Co-Founder, Our Community Broadband
