The City of Ryde in Sydney’s north will fund a feasibility study examining the cost of providing faster internet for businesses in Macquarie Park.
The head office location for many of Australia’s ‘Top 100’ companies, Macquarie Park has been dubbed ‘Australia’s Silicon Valley’. The economic corridor includes world-class commercial, education and research entities.
The City of Ryde’s feasibility study will examine the benefits of installing Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) internet infrastructure in Macquarie Park, and is part of Council’s Four-Year Delivery Plan 2016-20 aimed at progressing the area’s reputation as a centre of innovation.
City of Ryde Mayor, Jerome Laxale, said, “The roll-out by NBN Co planned for later this year will only deliver Fibre to the Node. For Macquarie Park, that simply isn’t good enough.
“Council is committed to supporting new and existing Macquarie Park businesses and creating an environment for a long term, sustainable economy. The provision of Fibre to Premises telecommunications infrastructure for start-ups would support an incubator style environment to foster growth and innovation in the precinct.
“If Governments are serious about innovation, then nothing short of a full FTTP roll out for Macquarie Park is essential. I am glad that Council is leading the way on this matter.”
Macquarie Park is the second largest business district in New South Wales. It is set to double in size over the next 20 years to become the fourth largest central business district in Australia, delivering over 40,000 more jobs by 2031.
Stefan Stojka, Creative Director of Cyrius Media Group, said there is huge potential for new businesses to be created solely on the strength of fast internet. “Any online business model with HD video or multichannel audio, or that uses large files, such as 3D modelling, high resolution graphics or large data sets will be impossible to operate without very fast broadband. It is critical to our economic future in the ‘age of innovation’ to have the world’s best digital infrastructure.”
