The Connect Tasmania Core is the name used by the

Government of Tasmania The Tasmanian Government is the democratic administrative authority of the state of Tasmania, Australia. The leader of the party or coalition with the confidence of the House of Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Tasmania, is invit ...

to refer to a fibre optic communications network linking all major cities of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

(and hence the rest of Australia). The government intends to offer access to the network in order to facilitate a more competitive telecommunications industry.

Components

TasGovNet

TasGovNet is the name of the on-island backbone. It is 420 km long and links the major cities of

Burnie Burnie is a port city on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. When founded in 1827, it was named Emu Bay, being renamed after William Burnie, a director of the Van Diemen's Land Company, in the early 1840s. , Burnie had an urban popu ...

, Devonport, Launceston, and Hobart. It also links George Town, where it is intended to connect to the fibre optic cables that were laid with the

Basslink The Basslink () electricity interconnector is a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cable linking the electricity grids of the states of Victoria and Tasmania in Australia, crossing Bass Strait, connecting the Loy Yang Power Station, Victoria on ...

submarine electricity cable. The fibre was built by private company Tas21 before being purchased by the state government in 2003 for A$ 23 million.

Basslink fibre connector

The trans- Bass Strait segment of the network is the submarine fibre optic cable which was laid alongside the

HVDC A high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electric power transmission system (also called a power superhighway or an electrical superhighway) uses direct current (DC) for electric power transmission, in contrast with the more common alternating curre ...

electrical cable. It will connect to the TasGovNet cable at George Town.

Partners

The Tasmanian Research and Education Network (TREN) intends to use the TasGovNet and Basslink fibre as part of a network to link major educational and research organisations in Tasmania, including the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first prop ...

, TAFE Tasmania, Australian Maritime College and

Australian Antarctic Division The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) is a division of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. The Division undertakes science programs and research projects to contribute to an understanding of Antarctica and the ...

. On 21 December 2007, the Tasmanian Government announced Aurora Energy as being the preferred Strategic Alliance Partner to commercialise the government's on-island fibre network.

References

{{Reflist Communications in Australia Buildings and structures in Tasmania Bass Strait