The City of Greater Bendigo and Bendigo Telco have partnered to promote the benefits of the city’s super-fast 100 gigabit broadband network, which has the capacity to break down the ‘digital divide’ between Bendigo and the rest of the world.
100 gigabits per second is more than 1,000 times faster than Australia’s average internet speed.*
The joint initiative, called ‘100 Gig Bendigo’, aims to make Bendigo a destination for digital businesses and large enterprises thanks to access to critical high-quality local infrastructure and skills.
Bendigo Telco developed the network over the past 20 years and has recently enabled the 100-gig capacity in a bid to provide its customers with better and more reliable internet speeds. As well as a network of optic fibre, the Bendigo Data Centre securely stores large amounts of data locally, which supports high speed and reliable cloud computing.
100 Gig Bendigo is listed in the City’s recently adopted Economic Development Strategy, as an action to help revitalise the city centre.
City Director Strategy and Growth Bernie O’Sullivan said Bendigo was extremely lucky to have this type of infrastructure already built.
“Gig-speed internet projects are being rolled out across the world as the many benefits of super-fast internet are being realised,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
“This offers Bendigo a competitive advantage that is almost unique to a regional city like ours. It offers businesses the ability to compete on the world stage, from right here in Bendigo.
“It also allows us to attract new businesses to relocate here that require super-fast internet, such as film post-production, advanced manufacturing and many other businesses in the new digital economy.
“Bendigo has a diverse economy that encompasses everything from health and professional services, advanced manufacturing, tourism, and retail and hospitality as well as many others. There are lots of opportunities out there for these sectors and new creative ones to take advantage of this super-fast internet to expand their business.”
Bendigo Telco Executive Director Kevin Dole said Bendigo Telco had installed the infrastructure to better respond to customers’ needs.
“There has traditionally been a disparity between what regional Australians receive compared to their counterparts in capital cities,” Mr Dole said.
“We’re proud to be helping to conquer the digital divide and to be building our technological skills and capabilities to help support businesses to access digital services and drive digital innovation.”
Bendigo Bank Managing Director Marnie Baker said as a 100 gig Bendigo customer, it was clear that the 100Gb/s internet speeds now available in Bendigo would serve to increase the region’s competitive advantage.
“The ability to access super-fast broadband speeds in Bendigo not only enables us to continue to build on our proven history of innovation and drive our transformation strategy, but also serves to position our city as an attractive location for a whole new range of industries that will further underpin and diversify our local economy,” Ms Baker said.
“This is an exciting development that further opens up the region to digital-first and high-tech companies across a range of industries.”
Be. Bendigo CEO Dennis Bice said the benefits for business were far reaching.
“Super-fast internet can be a game changer for many of our businesses and could help attract many new businesses that would have previously been unable to relocate here due to a need for this type of infrastructure to support them,” Mr Bice said.
“This can support Bendigo to become a truly digital city and allows businesses to overcome various barriers and tap into a global marketplace.”
*Australia’s average download speed for October 2020 was 58.5mbps, according to the Speedtest Global Index
