Geelong's Regional Telecommunications Get Top Marks

Geelong businesses can now rest assured that they are extremely well
served in terms of wired and mobile telecommunications infrastructure
which offers significant choices of technologies and providers.

This
means that an urban Geelong business with mature telecommunications
requirements can take advantage of this situation which delivers a
lower cost of establishing and operating an enterprise here than in any
Australian capital city’s CBD.

This lower-cost bonus is one of
the major findings of the G21 Telecommunications Needs Assessment Study
recently completed for the G21 Alliance by Housley Consulting, a
specialist Australian telecommunications company operating for more
than thirty years and assisting five regions in Australia with similar
projects.

The added advantage for the Geelong urban area is that
businesses can access Neighborhood Cable’s hybrid fibre coaxial cable
as well as Telstra’s fibre network – with both giving superior results.

The
purpose of the G21 study, which was funded jointly with MultiMedia
Victoria, was to identify shortfalls in service and any increased costs
of doing business in the G21 region and the impact of these on business
and industry compared to those in Melbourne and other metropolitan
areas in Australia.

G21 Alliance, which includes the
municipalities of Greater Geelong, SurfCoast, Golden Plains,
Queenscliffe and Colac Otway and other regional stakeholders including
the Chamber, recognised that the region’s capacity to maintain pace
with telecommunications would impact on its ability to provide an
appealing environment for investing, living and visiting.

Because
telecommunication has experienced huge changes and growth in recent
times and, with so many new technologies being constantly introduced,
G21 Alliance saw that it was hard for users to know when to take up the
available technology and which way to turn.

The G21 study’s
positive findings assist well in this area and should encourage Geelong
businesses and residents alike to use the high quality
telecommunication and internet services with much more confidence and
assurance.

The findings were based on an assessment of
telecommunications infrastructure and operating costs by Housley
combined with responses to surveys of both business and residential
users and meetings with business groups.

Housley also found
that, contrary to some opinions, the cost of calls is not a long-term
determinant in differentiation between providers and that a number of
organisations have already been able to access reductions in these.

As
the Chamber predicted, the study found that comprehensive education
programs at all levels are required. These will improve the region’s
understanding of the telecommunications products available and the
business benefits that can be realised by their proper selection and
utilisation.

The Chamber will now examine the best method of
conducting business seminars to help businesses take up
telecommunication services and products available in Geelong.

Lawrie Miller
Executive Director