In a major boost, businesses in Port Douglas and Cairns will be able to order high-speed fibre broadband as NBN Co rolls out new Business Fibre Zones, which will help boost economic growth and productivity.

NBN Co’s Business Fibre Initiative is part of a $700 million package to transform the accessibility and affordability of business-grade fibre.

Under the new initiative announced by the Morrison Government, businesses located in the Business Fibre Zone will be able to request a fibre upgrade through their retailer at no upfront cost.

The initiative will offer wholesale symmetrical speeds from 10 Mbps up to 1 Gbps on request to more than 700,000 businesses in 240 Business Fibre Zones and will reduce wholesale pricing by up to 67 per cent for businesses in Zones outside metropolitan centres.

Federal Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch welcomed Business Fibre Zones being installed in Cairns and Port Douglas.

“The launch of the Business Fibre Initiative will support business critical applications including cloud storage and online collaboration helping our local businesses stay competitive in the digital age,” Mr Entsch said.

“This is especially important now given many businesses have turned to online platforms to conduct day-to-day business during the pandemic.

“Communications have never been more important and will play a critical role in our recovery.”

Federal Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said the government is backing this significant investment into Australia’s small and medium businesses, which will be critical to our economic recovery from COVID-19.

“During this global health crisis, the NBN has proven itself to be a vital national asset,” Mr Fletcher said.

“That’s why we are making affordable ultra-fast broadband available to more businesses Australia wide.”

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the additional investment into NBN Co’s Business Fibre Initiative will enable businesses to boost their digital capabilities and create thousands of jobs.

“This Initiative will create more jobs as we combat the impact of COVID-19 on our economy and employment across our country,” Mr Cormann said.

The construction of the Business Fibre Zones will deliver up to 6,000 new jobs by 2021-22, including more engineers, project managers and construction crew.

Federal Regional Communications Minister Mark Coulton said 85 of the Business Fibre Zones will be located in regional centres, allowing regional businesses to benefit from the transformation to NBN wholesale business pricing, which will bring regional pricing into line with capital cities.

“Businesses within NBN Co’s Business Fibre Zones across the country will have access to CBD zone wholesale prices, driving annual cost savings of between $1,200 and $6,000 for those based outside capital city centres,” Mr Coulton said.

Enterprise Ethernet is NBN Co’s fastest wholesale product, which provides options for prioritised bandwidth, 24/7 dedicated support through NBN’s business operations centre, and symmetrical wholesale speeds suitable for data intensive applications such as online collaboration and cloud-based tools.

NBN Co will allocate $50 million to help expand these Business Fibre Zones by co-investing with Local Councils and State Governments.

More information: nbnco.com.au/businessfibre