Basslink open for business

The fibre optic communications cable which connects Tasmania with the Australian mainland has officially gone live today.

Basslink, the first cable to cross the Bass Strait which is not operated by Telstra, connects Victoria’s Loy Yang power station, with the George Town power station in northern Tasmania.

Consumer action group Digital Tasmania spokesperson, Andrew Connor, said Tasmanians can now expect faster and cheaper Internet services.

“The Basslink cable brings us competition for the first time, and will enable the ISPs to put on more Internet capacity to Tasmania, so there’s more bandwidth to share,” Connor said.

“When they do put their own DSLAMs in the main cities, then they can provide services faster than eight megabits, as the incumbent does with their wholesale service.”

Connor says Netspace and Internode have both committed to 11 DSLAMs each across the state.

Basslink Telecoms general manager, Michael Coates, said in statement that a number of ISPs have signed up and will be utilising Basslink’s backhaul. It is in discussions with a number of others.

“We are very pleased to be up and running and welcoming a number of quality ISPs onto the Basslink backhaul capacity,” Coates said.

“Our focus for the past six months has been on delivering the infrastructure, and ensuring all project works, testing and commissioning run smoothly. Now the activation of the capacity is a reality. We expect that more ISP’s will come on board as customers.”