The Turnbull Government has delivered on its commitment to provide a $250,000 grant for the Sunshine Coast Regional Council to undertake a feasibility study into landing a submarine cable in the region.
The proposal to attract a submarine cable to the Sunshine Coast has now taken a major step forward with Minister for Communications Senator the Hon. Mitch Fifield signing the funding grant for the study alongside Member for Fairfax Ted O’Brien MP.
Submarine telecommunications cables are national infrastructure which are used to carry the majority of Australia’s international voice and data traffic.
The grant will enable an assessment of the benefits and costs of connecting an international submarine cable to the Sunshine Coast. Managed by the Sunshine Coast Council, the feasibility study will also explore opportunities to attract private sector investment in ventures that could leverage such a cable.
Mr O’Brien said it was the trigger the region had been waiting for.
“This is a milestone in the Sunshine Coast’s push to be the only regional area in Australia to bring a submarine optic cable on shore,” Mr O’Brien said.
“Currently cables only come into Perth and Sydney.”
“The opportunities that an optic cable could open up for not only the Sunshine Coast but all of south-east Queensland are profound,” said Mr O’Brien.
“For example, an optic cable linked to the new Sunshine Coast CBD could bring to life the most ambitious smart city plan in the country.
“Linked to the new Sunshine Coast University Hospital and growing health precinct, we can build deep expertise in exportable e-Health services.
“Linked to the Sunshine Coast University it could encourage a growing engineering faculty and see new ventures emerge with leading technology companies that want to tap into young tech-savvy talent.”