Japan- Guam-Australia South cable to drive surge in business investment in QLD’s Maroochydore

The new Maroochydore CBD on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast is set for a surge in business investment, with the 9600km Japan- Guam-Australia South (JGA-S) submarine cable currently being delivered providing unprecedented internet connectivity and capacity to the region.

Sunshine-Coast business owner Lyndon Holzheimer said the recently announced 550km cable was a potential game-changer for local and global businesses, particularly those in the technology sector.

“As we look to establish our company and think about the future growth, this opens up the Sunshine Coast as a potential place to locate our HQ, instead of the traditional path of New York of San Francisco,” he said.

“This has the potential to attract and create a whole new eco-system of skill and investment which is really what is lacking right now and holding companies back on the Sunshine Coast.”

In September, Sunshine Coast Council announced it would partner with RTI Connectivity Pty Ltd to lay the undersea fibre optic cable to connect the Sunshine Coast to JGA-S submarine cable currently being delivered by a consortium led by RTI-C.

At Guam, the JGA-S cable will connect to the SEA-US Cable System, a highly efficient Trans- Pacific cable which will forge connections between South-East Asia and the United States for more than 1.5 billion people.

Mayor Mark Jamieson last week announced the successful tender for the construction of the cable landing station, to be located on the boundary of the new Maroochydore CBD.

Jamieson said the new cable access is expected to deliver more than 800 new jobs and generate an expected A$927 million in new investment.

Holzheimer and his business partner Steve Huff co-founded technology start-up company Preventum from their Maroochydore base in 2015 and have successfully launched campaigns on their Preventum platform in the US, an initiative informing young people about the dangers of opioid abuse.

“We also have satellite offices in San Francisco and New York and we were thinking of opening a headquarters in New York, but in light of the recent announcements by council it definitely makes Maroochydore a more viable option for sure.,” Holzheimer said.

The cable, expected to be in place by 2020, follows more than A$10 million in underground telecommunications infrastructure installed by SunCentral Maroochydore, the company tasked with the design and delivery of the new city centre.

SunCentral Maroochydore CEO John Knaggs said the future CBD would be one of the most digitally advanced cities in the country with smart lighting and signage, an underground automatic waste collection system and world-class internet connectivity.

“Providing high speed, reliable internet will appeal to big data users and businesses looking for the very best telecommunications and data infrastructure,” he added. “Apart from global and national investment, the cable will also stimulate local business.”

 

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