Congratulations Wollongong, you’re set to become the first place to get a 1Gbps service on the NBN thanks to MyRepublicAU. The NSW coastal city is about to make history. Wollongong has been named Australia’s first Gigatown by MyRepublic as part of a campaign to highlight the nation’s need for faster Internet access at fairer prices.
The Singapore-based ISP is the first to offer a 1Gbps service to consumers in Australia. Currently the best you can receive is 200Mpbs on SkyMesh, but a service that’s 5 times that, is coming.
In an effort to disrupt the Australian internet market, MyRepublic will provide Ultra-Fast internet up to 40 times faster than the typical NBN speeds that are currently offered by retailers to the local community after Wollongong.
Update
Tasmanian ISP Launtel is also offering 1Gbps from the end of the month.
Massive congratulations has to go to Wollongong resident Fletcher Thompson won the national Gigatown competition that invited entrants to say why speeds of up to 1Gbps are important to them. Seriously, if he’s your neighbour, buy the man a drink or 3.
100 MyRepublic customers who are within a 10km radius of the winner’s address in Wollongong will receive free speed upgrades to the 1Gbps speed for a year. In addition to lighting up Wollongong with lightning fast internet, Fletcher also takes home a premium Sony prize pack, including a PS4 Pro, PlayStation VR, Sony 49″ 4K HDR TV and Sony 5.1ch Home Cinema System with Bluetooth, which I’m sure he’ll put to good use on the ridiculously fast network.
Here’s the crazy part, price. With most people paying somewhere between $60-120 for 100Mbps connection, you’d expect 1Gbps to cost many hundreds of dollars per month. The unlimited 1Gbps service for new customers in Wollongong is available for a very reasonable $129.99 per month (on a 12-month contract). If you’re one of the lucky ones who have an address with Wollongong on the end of it, you can pre-register your interest at www.gigatown.com.au from today.
MyRepublic Australia Managing Director Nicholas Demos said,
MyRepublic has been instrumental in delivering affordable 1Gbps speeds in Singapore and New Zealand, so we can’t wait to transform Wollongong into a Gigatown and let locals experience real Ultra-Fast connections to their residences, businesses and communities.
This is the first time an ISP has made the premium 1Gbps nbn™ service available to consumers and we are excited to see the difference it can make for our customers.
Personally I’m really enjoying 100/40Mbps service on FTTP and its ability to let you do whatever you want online, incredibly fast without interruption is fantastic. With the technology capable of 1Gpbs its a shame more ISPs don’t offer it. Hopefully this is the start of a new trend where customers across Australia can choose from plans, not artificially limited, but let the only restriction on your speed be your budget, not your technology.
As a recent subscriber to the Xbox Game pass, and with minimal HDD space available, its possible that with a 1Gbps connection, you could simply delete a game to free up space and download a new game to play in just minutes, making on-demand gaming a reality, not an overnight experience, even ones that are 50GB+ in size.
Obviously, things like streaming and gaming will be a better experience, but MyRepublic also aims to demonstrate how Australia should be taking advantage of the digital economy.
Demos said,
We need to open up more opportunities for people to be able to work remotely, reducing the requirement for commuting and drive innovation – generating real economic and social benefits like more jobs, improve efficiency and economic growth.
Selecting the winner was a tough job, as there were thousands of entries that reflected the Australian public’s passion for high speed internet and how it could enhance their lifestyles. The winning entry, Fletcher ‘s wrote: Wollongong is undergoing a transition from industrial town to tech hub. There’s an explosion of startups and small businesses, ever smarter students of all ages and a push for smart city status, but the high-quality internet infrastructure to support us has never been here. Please help! 🙂
