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Media Release
CONNECTING NORTH QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITIES
TO THE WORLD
7 July, 2004 MIN 796/04
The Australian Government has today commissioned the first major segment of a new broadband communications network to provide world-class, high-speed communications links for universities in Northern Queensland.
This joint project, initially providing gigabit capacity from Townsville to Brisbane and from Rockhampton to Brisbane, is part of the Government’s Australian Research and Education Network (AREN) initiative and seeks to foster high-speed collaborative research.
The Government has provided $5.5 million for these high bandwidth links, in addition to funding from central and northern Queensland universities and the state owned Powerlink.
The network provides a 40-fold increase in capacity available for students and researchers at James Cook and Central Queensland universities. It also provides students broader access to on-line educational resources.
Researchers will now have unprecedented access to high bandwidth connections to access large data sets and other research infrastructure right across the world.
This will help the best and brightest in North Queensland to achieve better research outcomes and will give them greater opportunities for collaboration with their colleagues in Australia and overseas.
The Australian Government is working with stakeholders and other partners in the State to extend this network backbone to Cairns and other regional centres.
Australian and international delegates at QuestNet, Australia’s premier networking and communication conference, currently taking place in Cairns, have commended us for our vision in rolling out the AREN initiative. It is something Australia can be proud of.
Media contacts:
Dr Nelson’s Office: Ross Hampton 0419 484 095
Dept of Education, Science & Training: Laila Lacis 0412 040 034
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