Balonne Shire Council is celebrating another milestone in its innovative Digital Connectivity Project, as construction officially begins on the cross-border phase at Mungindi.
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Funded by a cross-border grant from the New South Wales Government, Balonne Shire Council and Moree Plains Shire Council have collaborated to build three fixed wireless internet towers in the Mungindi district, to connect the community to both shires' new internet networks.
In addition to providing both sides of the Mungindi community with a strong and reliable internet connection, the local towers will also add to reliability of the internet service in both shires by providing redundancy and backhaul upgrades.
Balonne Shire Mayor, Samantha O'Toole, said the program would address a fundamental need for better data connectivity.
"The partnership between our shires, along with the assistance from New South Wales' Minister for Agriculture and Western New South Wales, Adam Marshall, has provided a turning point for connectivity in our region," Mayor O'Toole said.
"This program gives our shires the best opportunity to access significantly improved coverage and connectivity, which will provide opportunities for business retention and expansion and enable innovation, as well as improving access to education and health, disaster management capabilities and overall liveability.
"We would like to acknowledge and commend the NSW Government for the important contribution it is making towards solving cross-border challenges through the introduction of the Cross-Border Commissioner's Infrastructure Fund and their commitment to support infrastructure projects with social, economic, environmental or cultural benefits," Mayor O'Toole said.
The New South Wales Cross-Border Commissioner's Infrastructure Fund has directed more than $860,000 of grant funding to this cross-border connectivity project.
