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