JMR with Minister for Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts Paul Fletcher
More than 3,560 businesses in the Corangamite electorate will benefit from cheaper and faster broadband with NBN Co announcing the establishment of Business Fibre Zones across Torquay, Jan Juc, Ocean Grove, Barwon Heads, Point Lonsdale and Queenscliff.
Senator for Victoria, Sarah Henderson, said the new Zones will allow local businesses to access fibre with speeds of up to 1 Gigabit per second, enabling a range of new business opportunities that previously weren’t possible.
“This has the potential to revitalise and reshape our region, from the services locals are able to access, to industries like manufacturing, food production, tourism and hospitality which are all major employers in their own right,” Senator Henderson said.
“Access to high speed internet will allow local businesses to grow and thrive, break into new markets, and secure our long-term growth potential.
“With no upfront build costs and discounts of up to 60 per cent on NBN Co’s current wholesale plans, many local businesses will be able to take advantage of these zones.”
Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP, said the 44 new Zones would help thousands of businesses participate in the digital economy on an equal footing, and bring the total number of Business Fibre Zones to 284.
“As we manage and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, investment in local business communications infrastructure will ensure that businesses can recover quickly, while taking advantage of domestic and international markets,” Minister Fletcher said.
“Improving access to high speed, reliable, and high quality broadband is a key part of the Australian Government’s communications agenda, which is why we are investing directly in the electorate of Corangamite.”
Today’s announcement will support an additional 60,000 eligible businesses across Australia, taking the total number of businesses within a Business Fibre Zone to 850,000, of which nearly 300,000 businesses are in regional Australia. NBN’s Enterprise Ethernet, NBN Co’s fastest symmetrical wholesale product offers these businesses plans of up to 1 Gigabit per second at the same price as CBD areas.
This extension to NBN Co’s Business Fibre Zone initiative builds on the $700 million package announced last year to transform the accessibility and affordability of business-grade fibre and allow small to medium businesses to embrace opportunities for growth.
The announcement comes at the same time as research by Frontier Economics shows NBN Co’s business fibre investments will contribute up to $7.2 billion annually to the economy by 2024.
The research also forecasts productivity benefits for businesses of up to 12 per cent, with regional areas particularly set to benefit and evidence of increased retail competition which is good for businesses.
For more information about the NBN Business Fibre Zones initiative, including the new pricing options, visit https://www.nbnco.com.au/corporate-information/about-nbn-co/corporate-plan/business-fibre-initiative.
For more information on the research, visit https://www.communications.gov.au/documents/economic-impact-new-nbn-investments-business-report-frontier-economics.
ENDS
NBN Business Fibre Zones initiative maps:
Map for Torquay fibre-zone-torquay2021.pdf (nbnco.com.au)
Maps for Barwon Heads, Ocean Grove, through to Queenscliff fibre-zone-ocean-grove2021.pdf (nbnco.com.au)
9 August 2021