Telstra overhauls Torres Strait broadband

Telstra has embarked on a $5.3 million project to improve broadband services for islands in the Torres Strait region of far northern Queensland.

(Sydney 500 image by Jon Ovington, CC BY-SA 2.0)

Telstra will upgrade 15 existing exchanges across the islands, and install five new high-capacity microwave radio links. The speed improvements from the upgrade will allow residents on the island to access Telstra's Next IP service.

Due to the harsh weather conditions in the area, installing the new links and completing the upgrades will be split up over the next year to avoid the upcoming wet season in the region.

"Detailed planning and network design is well underway and we expect to complete about 80 per cent of the network this financial year," Telstra Country Wide executive managing director Brett Riley said in a statement. "We are hoping to build as much as possible before the wet season begins. The remainder of the works will be completed during the 2011 dry season."

The deal was signed between Riley and Torres Strait Island mayor Fred Gela during the annual conference of the Local Government Association of Queensland in Mackay earlier this week.

"Council discussed with Telstra the benefit of partnering with [Torres Strait Island Regional Council] on this project and we believe everyone, in particular the people of the outer islands of the Torres Straits, will gain from the applications and services the technology will bring to the region," Gela said. "The network will also deliver significant savings for the council by improving productivity."

Riley said the network would improve the communication and administration between the council and its outer islands, and allow new government services to reach the remote communities.

"State and federal government departments will be able to extend their private IP networks, which have become critical in the delivery of services such as telemedicine and e-learning," he said.

Telstra told ZDNet Australia that it didn't believe the deal would interfere with Labor's broadband plans in the area as part of the National Broadband Network, the telco was just "getting on with business".