The South Australian Government has today appointed EscapeNet to connect Adelaide’s technological workspaces with one gigabit download speeds.
The GigCity Adelaide network will interconnect with the South Australian Broadband Research and Education Network (SABRENet), linking cloud-based data centres where speed, flexibility and big data transfer are not inhibited by internet congestion.
Affordable plans will be made available to key innovation precincts and co-working spaces across Adelaide’s metropolitan area including the Tonsley Innovation Hub, TechInSA, Stretton Centre and St Paul’s Creative Centre.
EscapeNet Managing Director Stavros Patiniotis said the company would provide a service that was considerably faster than what was commonly available in the marketplace.
“We will back GigCity services with local support, add-on services and seamless integration with key cloud platforms including Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure to assist startup ventures,” he said.
“A custom-built portal will also be launched to empower businesses to establish and manage their connections in real time.”
The gigabit speeds will be 40 times the current 25Mbps internet speeds for mainstream business plans, and will range from $49.90 to $179.90 per month.
Adelaide is already well placed to upgrade its internet infrastructure after becoming the first city outside of the United States to join Smart City initiator and internet application development organisation US Ignite.
It was also named Australia’s first Lighthouse City by Cisco.
The Gig City initiative is part of the State Government’s investment of almost AU$80m to accelerate South Australia’s transformation from a traditional manufacturing and agricultural base to a modern and innovative economy.
South Australian Minister for Science and Information Economy Kyam Maher said the State Budget would provide a further $2.9 million for GigCity’s expansion into additional precincts.
“This is an important milestone as we work towards connecting innovation precincts and co-working spaces to ultra-fast internet that is 100-times faster than the national average,” he said.
“Key to this program are the affordable and flexible gigabit internet services on offer.
“For the first time, we will see businesses, start-ups and entrepreneurs access ultrafast Internet that is cheaper and less restrictive than current available plans on the market, which only offer half the speed.”
The delivery of the gigabit service is expected to take place in July.