A multi-million dollar, high-capacity, advanced telecommunications network is to be built in Queensland as part of a major upgrade to the AARnet network.
The new network will be capable of linking all universities and tertiary colleges in the state, eventually providing them with data links of more than 600 megabits per second.
Plans are underway to use the network for advanced telemedicine applications and to make it available for industries such as film and television, multimedia, games, industrial design and visual arts.
The initial phase of the project will cost AU$18.75 million over four years with universities, research facilities and private enterprise providing about a third of the funds.
The remaining funds are expected to come from the state and federal governments.
The network will support Queensland's new super computing program, giving regional universities and research organisations access to collaborative technologies previously out of reach.
Queensland Information and Communications Minister Terry Mackenroth said the new network would 'break the confines of the existing bandwidth bottleneck' that restricted regional universities from gaining access to high-speed telecommunication at reasonable prices.
The network, to be known as the Queensland Advanced Research Network, would support the newly established super computing program and form part an upgraded national AARnet network supporting the connection of Queensland universities with others throughout Australia and the rest of the world.
He said Queensland regional universities currently only had access to 2 megabit per second links, however, the new network would eventually increase this to 622 mbps.
The network would support private sector research as well as that carried out by the universities and had the potential to be of benefit to the sugar, mining and beef industries, construction engineering, bioinformatics, industrial process engineering and utilities such as rail and power generational.
Queensland's Information and Communications Department has applied to the Federal Government for funding under the Advanced Networks Program, which is in turn funded from the sale of Telstra.
Mackenroth said a key element of the project was an agreement with Queensland Rail to provide access to some of its fibre infrastructure throughout the State.
Optus and Reef Networks are currently laying a major fibre link from Brisbane to Cairns along Queensland Rail's main trunk line.
