Basslink fibre goes live; Internode tests

Stephen Withers
Monday, 06 July 2009 10:57

Business IT - Networking

One of Digital Tasmania's concerns was that the state government was locked into an annual payment of $2 million per year to the cable's owner since April 2006, even though the link had not been commissioned.

Internode chairman Simon Hackett confirmed today via a post on Whirlpool that his company had begun testing its Basslink connection between the mainland and Tasmania.

The cable was first operational in April, with test traffic flowing between Loy Yang on the Victorian side of Bass Strait and Georgetown in Tasmania.

The primary purpose of the Basslink project is to allow the transmission of electricity between the two states, and the fibre optic portion of the connection has remained unused for some time.

Internode was the first ISP to sign with Basslink. At the time, Internode carrier relations manager John Lindsay "As well as virtually halving our cost of backhauling data across Bass Strait, the Basslink service will allow us to exploit economies of scale as we grow."

The initial arrangement was for a 622Mbps, with an increase to more than 1Gbps expected within the first year of operation.

Internode last month announced a significant increase in its ADSL2+ reach in Tasmania, boosting its presence from two exchanges to 10. "With the imminent availability of the Basslink fibre cable and the Federal Government’s plan to roll out fibre first to Tasmania, this a good place for us to build," said Internode CEO Patrick Tapper.