Mountains groups concerned about business growth and the digital future met with Federal Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull earlier this month.
Blue Mountains Economic Enterprise (BMEE) and the Blue Mountains Connected Communities Group (BMCCG) placed the digital connectivity needs of the Blue Mountains high on the national agenda during the face to face meeting with the minister.
BMEE chairman Donald Luscombe said it was a chance to confirm the need for “reliable, high-speed broadband ... to assist the Blue Mountains increase its competitiveness across a range of industry sectors”.
“It was a great opportunity to deliver the message to the minister, that digital connectivity is one of the most critical infrastructure requirements for the Blue Mountains,” he said. “We must take a ‘smart city’ approach.”
The delegation presented local case studies showing how the current digital infrastructure in the region presents significant challenges to business and economic development. Those constraints included the increasing failure of the existing copper line network, increasing service outages, significant delays in connectivity for new connections and no competition in relation to service providers. A map was used to illustrate that many towns throughout the Blue Mountains have no ADSL 2 ports available.
“A consistent, high speed service is required that will perform within the Blue Mountains topographic and climatic constraints,” said BMCCG chairman, Hereward Dundas-Taylor. “Many line-of-sight wireless and cloud and fog-affected satellites are not suitable propositions.”
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