Within two years, the Sunshine Coast will be connected to an international submarine broadband cable, providing direct connectivity to the world.
This makes our region very attractive as an investment location, especially for the banking and finance sectors, big tech companies like Amazon and other industries reliant on online transactions and there are huge benefits for remote medical diagnostics. In short, access to super fast, international connectivity, will attract some of the world’s biggest data users to our region.
The $35 million undersea cable connection is being jointly funded by Sunshine Coast Council and the Queensland Government. Estimations for new investment in the Sunshine Coast economy as a result of the undersea cable are for an additional $927 million.
Currently, Australia is connected to the world by five submarine cables (four are located in Sydney and one is in Perth). These cables carry 99% of Australia’s total internet traffic. The Sunshine Coast will become cable number six, with a landing station at Maroochydore. This is because it’s geographically closer to Asia. From Maroochydore to Guam, the cable connects to a Trans-Pacific cable connecting South-East Asia and the United States.
In effect, the Sunshine Coast route will deliver traffic faster than the Sydney route. So how fast is fast?