Govt funds wireless connectivity in North West Queensland

The Australian Government has announced that its Regional Connectivity Program (RCP) is benefiting families, businesses and visitors in Queensland’s North West region, with around 600 households and businesses now able to access faster and more reliable internet.

Minister for Communications Anika Wells said the North West Queensland Gigabit Towns Project is providing fixed wireless connectivity, including free public Wi-Fi access, across a large area of North West Queensland, benefiting the communities of Richmond, Julia Creek, Karumba, Normanton and Croydon as well as surrounding properties and farms. The federal government has committed more than $2.2 million towards the project, along with contributions from the Queensland Government and Wi-Sky Queensland.

“No Australian should be left behind, whether that’s tourists in Richmond checking out Australian Dinosaur Trail or station owners running their business,” Wells said.

“That’s why the Albanese government is investing $2.2 million in this project to help local communities and visitors stay connected, run their businesses, and access essential services such as health, education and government services resources.

“It’s fantastic to see these projects up and running across Queensland’s North West — delivering real benefits for residents, businesses and visitors to these communities.”

Wi-Sky CEO William Harrington said the RCP is enabling his company to help build the digital foundations for the future, bringing next-generation connectivity to vibrant regional centres that deserve world-class communications infrastructure.

“This investment ensures they are not left behind as Queensland continues to grow and connect with the world,” he said.

The North West Queensland Gigabit Towns Project is one of many recently completed RCP projects, including:

• new mobile sites at Milyakburra Island and Edith River in the Northern Territory, co‑funded by Telstra;
• fixed wireless coverage at 12 sites across Western Australia’s wheatbelt, co-funded by CRISP Wireless and the Western Australian Government;
• improved mobile coverage along Burrendong Way in NSW and dedicated coverage for Mullion Creek, co-funded by Telstra; and
• a 39 km extension of the optic fibre network to Tullah in Tasmania to increase network capacity, co-funded by FortyTwo 24.
   

Image caption: The town of Karumba, Queensland. Image credit: iStock.com/JohnCarnemolla