The Commonwealth Government is delivering critical telecommunications infrastructure to connect some of the most remote and iconic parts of regional Queensland.
The Prime Minister, the Minister for Regional Development Fiona Nash and the Member for Maranoa David Littleproud visited Birdsville today to mark construction of the $16.5 million Barcoo and Diamantina Project.
The Turnbull Government is partnering with Telstra, the Queensland Government, Barcoo and Diamantina Shires, to deliver a new fibre transit link to connect townships Windorah, Birdsville, Bedourie, Jundah and Stonehenge.
Two new fibre routes are being laid stretching nearly 600 kilometres, linking these communities together and joining them back into the wider network. The first link – Boulia to Bedourie to Birdsville - stretches 390 kilometres. The second link – Stonehenge to Jundah to Windorah - stretches 190km.
When the project is completed in 2017, all of the towns will have 4G coverage and ADSL enabled by this cable, with the exception of Stonehenge which will be 4G only.
There is strong community demand for improved telecommunications services in Central West Queensland. The Barcoo and Diamantina Project is a powerful example of all levels of Government working together with the telecommunications industry and local community to deliver for regional Australia.
This project has created 40 jobs during construction, and is expected to deliver indirectly another 80 ongoing jobs.
The Government understands that access to telecommunications services is critical for social connectivity and economic productivity. The Barcoo and Diamantina Project builds on the success of the Government’s $220 million Mobile Black Spot Programme which is already fixing thousands of mobile black spots around the country.
Progress of the construction of the Barcoo and Diamantina project can be viewed on the Telstra website.