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Minister Michael Ferguson addresses the Launtel launch with Damian Ivereigh (Launtel Founder & Managing Director), Jeffrey Hope (Owner of Priceline Glenorchy – launch venue) and Johnson Koal (Federal Group) looking on.

Tasmanian-owned telco, Launtel, has officially launched its Blue Ocean Gigabit nbn Internet service in Hobart, advancing a plan to make Tasmania the nation’s first Gigabit state.

The lightning fast service connects Tasmania with the global Gigabit economy – it is 100 times faster than the current national average download speed.

Launtel chose Priceline Glenorchy for the VIP launch ceremony to show that Gigabit speeds are a productive addition to the information technology utilised by any business in Tasmania.

“Today’s event is a major step in a statewide project that began earlier this year when Launceston became Australia’s first Gigabit city,” said Launtel CEO Michael Costigan.

“We’ve now added Hobart as Australia’s first capital city to boast Gigabit nbn internet (and) after that, we can look forward to the opportunity to upgrade other areas of Tasmania such as Burnie and Devonport on to the pure fibre Gigabit network.”

“Tasmania has long relied on four mainstays of economic growth: forestry, mining, agriculture and tourism. The introduction of gigabit internet adds a new economic driver that offers high wage employment opportunities and environmentally friendly growth. It’s an industry that firmly places Tasmania at the forefront of the high tech industry in Australia, and makes it the logical business location for Australian businesses wishing to interact on equal terms with other high speed economies around the world.”

Mr Costigan said that for various political, economic and logistical reasons, Tasmania was likely to remain the only state in Australia with widely available Gigabit connection for several years or more.

“Tasmania must seize this golden opportunity to claim what is effectively Australia’s version of Silicon Valley and become the nation’s point of contact for the other Gigabit economies around the world.”