Qld releases NBN strategic plan
The Queensland Government has released a laundry list of National Broadband Network (NBN) opportunities it will seize if it is returned to power in the upcoming state election, which includes partnering with the CSIRO, Energex, local governments and NBN Co to make sure that those in the state get the most from the incoming fibre network.
The 12-page plan said that the state government will look to align infrastructure deployment with local disaster rebuilding efforts, among other initiatives.
The January 2010 floods that tore through Grantham in the Lockyer Valley saw countless properties destroyed, and left a repair bill of several billion dollars. As the rebuilding effort continues, the Queensland Government is looking to speed up the NBN roll-out in construction areas.
"The Queensland Government is working with NBN Co to identify opportunities to align NBN infrastructure plans as part of the disaster reconstruction effort.
"As part of this effort, Grantham in the Lockyer Valley will be an early recipient of the NBN," the state government wrote in its report.
NBN Co released its comprehensive roll-out roadmap last year, which detailed the sites that would see fibre internet deployed over the next 12 months. Grantham was absent from that list, but the January 2011 floods prompted Lockyer Valley regional council to request that the area be classified as a greenfields site to speed up deployment of the network during the rebuilding process.
In early-December, NBN Co obliged and switched on the first NBN connections in new Grantham developments.
Other elements of the NBN report show that the government aims to educate businesses and individuals about the benefits of the new, high-speed fibre network, expand in-home e-health monitoring and investigate a whole-of-state network dedicated to Queensland's emergency services.
New South Wales' emergency services are seeking a similar network, but have been met with roadblocks over spectrum availability.
Also contained within the document is a Queensland government proposal to join forces with the CSIRO to open a "digital homestead display centre" that would see cutting-edge scientific remote farm management and monitoring tools like pest detection, crop quality diagnoses, animal management and weed control.
The government also plans to team up with local government and the private sector to open display centre showcases in Brisbane to show off the capabilities of the network for the state.