The new 449 kilometre fibre link between Perth and Geraldton in south-west Western Australia  has been completed, becoming the the first part of the National Broadband Network (NBN) in Western Australia.

The link forms part of the Federal Government's $250 million Regional Backbone Blackspots Program, which is delivering 6,000 kilometres of fibre backbone across regional Australia.


Westnet, a wholly owned subsidiary of major internet service provider iiNet, is now accessing the new fibre backbone and offering ADSL2+ services, and cheaper prices for existing products.


Labor Senator for Western Australia Louise Pratt said the new fibre optic link would strengthen Australia's bid to host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope. The main SKA site will be located at Murchison Observatory, 315km north east of Geraldton.


CSIRO is currently constructing a fibre optic link between the Murchison Observatory and Geraldton to enable transmission of large volumes of scientific data for processing.


Civil engineering on the Perth to Geraldton route was undertaken by Visionstream and Ngarda Alliance,  a WA Indigenous engineering services firm specialising in civil and mining projects.

More information on the Regional Backbone Blackspots Program, including maps of all routes, is available from www.dbcde.gov.au/blackspots_program