The NSW Telco Authority has kicked off a connectivity strategy designed to unify disparate state-level telecommunications strategies.
The NSW Connectivity Strategy is designed to bring together the state government’s connectivity initiatives on a whole-of-government basis, the authority said in a LinkedIn post.
NSW Telco Authority chief customer officer Rania Wannous told iTnews the aim of the strategy is to help the NSW state government deliver on its commitment to improve digital connectivity for its citizens.
NSW needs a “coordinated, collaborative, whole-of-government approach” to connectivity.
“What we’re trying to deliver is three outcomes,” Wannous said.
“Emergency services need mission-critical communications to provide public safety services.
“Government agencies need high quality connectivity to help them deliver for their customers, as well as for their own operational use.”
And in a world where government services are increasingly moving online, citizens and businesses need connectivity to access those services, as well as for their own use, Wannous explained.
Visibility and insight
While the NSW Telco Authority’s most familiar mission is providing the statewide emergency services network, it also has good statewide visibility of telecommunications infrastructure, which means it’s well placed to help other stakeholders.
“What we will do in terms of supporting other government agencies is provide them access to expertise, to help them deliver connectivity where needed,” Wannous said.
The authority can also provide “strategic insight, to maximise the best use of technology – we are aware of where infrastructure exists, so that we are maximising the use of that infrastructure to deliver outcomes.”
NSW government chief information and digital officer Greg Wells told iTnews that presenting an accurate accurate picture of connectivity statewide is a key part of the strategy.
“You get a view, a spatial view of what it actually looks like, because I think people feel like [connectivity is] solved … I can tell you, it’s not,” Wells told iTnews.
As noted in the strategy, connectivity gaps are numerous: around 15 percent of major roads do not have mobile coverage and around 30 percent of the rail network has poor or no coverage.
Wannous said the authority's own network upgrade will also play into the strategy, with 350 radiocommunications sites now operational statewide, a number that is set to grow to over 670 sites by completion.
The strategy is also designed to leverage state government spending and assets to attract connectivity that the public can use.
Wells told iTnews the strategy aims to “bring together across the state, all the connectivity programs that are happening.”
For example, if a school in a regional location gets a connectivity upgrade, Wells wants that to provide flow-on benefits for juvenile justice or other entities.
Some areas won’t be “commercially viable” for carrier investment, he said, so emerging technology like satellite will be investigated. Earlier this year, the Telco Authority began assembling a tariff book for satellite services.
