Yass Valley Business Chamber president Jack Walker (left) with Yass Valley Mayor Allan McGrath and head of NBN local Tom O’Dea at the launch of the new broadband service on Tuesday. Photo: Supplied.
Yass businesses could now compete with their city counterparts with the launch of a faster, price-comparable internet service, the Mayor of Yass Allan McGrath said on Tuesday.
Mr McGrath was speaking after the launch of the NBN’s fastest business-grade broadband at the Yass Soldiers Club.
He said the co-investment between the Yass Valley Council and NBN meant eligible Yass businesses would have access to the faster broadband at the same wholesale prices as in major capital cities. The business-grade fibre is known as Enterprise Internet.
Head of NBN local NSW Tom O’Dea said the initiative would support local innovation, business growth, job creation and education – all important issues for the Yass Valley community.
“Businesses are increasingly using business NBN Enterprise Ethernet to support cloud-based business operations, remote file storage, content hosting, unified communications, large file distribution and to connect to head office locations,” he said.
“For business NBN Enterprise customers, we are helping to level the playing field in Yass and ensuring that more businesses throughout regional Australia in more locations can participate in the digital economy on an equal broadband access footing with metro-based businesses.
“This demonstrates our ongoing commitment to regional Australian businesses.”
Mayor McGrath said fast and reliable business-grade internet was more important than ever today, particularly as people sought new opportunities in regional areas post-COVID lockdown.
“This investment from Yass Valley Council with NBN also supports relocations and investment in our economy, which is continuing to grow as we see more businesses and people move to the regions post-COVID,” he said.
“This investment will help attract new businesses and also support the existing logistics, health and professional services firms who won’t need to move to a larger capital city to expand.”
He said the facility also supported the broader economic development of Yass, which was continuing to grow as more people, opting for remote and hybrid working, moved out of the cities.
Yass Soldiers Club administrative manager Annabel Whalen tries out the faster broadband on Tuesday. Photo: Supplied.
Mr McGrath said the announcement was also timely, coming as it did as Valley businesses marked Small Business Month in November with a variety of free programs designed to help them grow. With the theme “Connect for Success”, the month-long series of activities is designed to provide free assistance to established and growing businesses, from how to retain good staff to social media tips. More information is available on the website.
Mr O’Dea said the Yass Business Fibre Zone investment followed similar projects in Goulburn and Queanbeyan where local businesses and firms took advantage of what high-speed business-grade broadband could do for their operations.
“Where a business is physically located means less when high-speed Enterprise Ethernet is available in regional and rural areas,” he said.
“All this contributes not only to the economic growth of regional and rural Australia, but also population growth where people realise they can live away from major capital cities and continue to access the speed and technology required to run a business or do their job.”
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