Media Centre
Uecomm links Sydney Basin Unis
Fibre broadband carrier Uecomm Limited announced today that it has signed a $2.1 million contract for 10 years with the Australian Academic and Research Network (AARNet) for the provision of dark fibre services to the Sydney Basin Universities.
Brendan Park, Director, Products and Marketing said, "This is further evidence of the success of Uecomm’s strategy to focus on large corporations, government departments and other telecommunications service providers. Our fibre optic network, located in the capital cities and metropolitan areas is ideally suited to the needs of the Sydney Basin Universities."
"Uecomm has a strong history of provision of services to education in Australia. Our customer base includes Monash University in Melbourne, the DET in NSW and QUT in Brisbane. MetroFibre delivers virtually unlimited bandwidth for our customers. The extensive reach of the Uecomm fibre network means we can easily and cost effectively deliver this service," he said. The network will provide the optical fibre infrastructure for sub campuses, partner and affiliate sites and has been brought about by a DEST (formerly DETYA) grant, State Government contributions, contributions from UNSW, University of Sydney and AARNet and via a fibre swap arrangement with the CSIRO CENTIE project. AARNet is acting as an agent for the Sydney Basin Universities for this fibre network contract.
Dr Keith Burston, UNSW and Consortium Chair said, "The development ensures that all Sydney Basin Universities will have broadband access to a high speed data network. This network will engender collaboration in education between Sydney Basin Universities and will form the core for future network projects in the area of education, research and culture." By utilising Uecomm’s MetroFibre service, Sydney Basin Universities can operate as if they have their own private optical network, delivering the flexibility, security, privacy, quality of service and reliability needed to manage their own infrastructue for years to come.
The solution will underpin collaborative projects between members and Internet connectivity. There is further scope to extend membership to affiliates for cultural, research and tertiary education services such as libraries and museums. Opportunities also exist to peer with other networks such as GrangeNet, CENTIE and the Health Networks.
