Queensland to establish state fibre company

The Queensland Government has revealed plans to establish a new entity to use the state’s fibre-optic cables to improve internet connectivity for premises across the state.

The new entity, FibreCo Qld, will partner with internet service providers to take advantage of 6000 km of state-owned fibre to boost connectivity and potentially lower prices.

FibreCo Qld will provide backhaul services to internet service providers and will be focused on improving internet services in regional areas including Toowoomba, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville and Cairns.

The new company will also work with ISPs to connect part of the state-owned fibre network to the nbn in key regional areas. The backhaul will also be offered to smaller communications providers as an alternative to nbn backhaul.

Queensland Innovation Minister Kate Jones said the project is essential to improving services in regional Queensland, something that the nbn project has failed to achieve.

“For too long, regional Queensland has been getting a raw deal. The federal government’s nbn has been an unmitigated failure,” she said.

“We also know that by helping businesses to be more connected, we’ll create more and more jobs in regional Queensland. Increasing competition in the backhaul market will lead to more internet service providers entering the regional market. This will create more competition and lead to better services for Queenslanders.”

Research from the ACCC has found that regional Queensland has some of the least competitive internet markets in Australia.