Launtel will hire more staff as the company expands to provide internet services for residential customers.
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The Launceston-based telecommunications company made headlines earlier this year when it became the first in the nation to offer gigabit speeds on the National Broadband Network.
But the company has only offered internet bundles to commercial businesses.
Launtel director Damian Ivereigh confirmed the business would expand to offer 250-megabit internet bundles.
“It’s clear Tasmania needs us,” he joked.
“For two or three years since the NBN has been about we haven’t had any interest in doing residential – and we have been focussing only on business.”
Mr Ivereigh said it had taken several months to register with the industry body, and Launtel would be ready to launch residential packages in September.
He said at least two more staff will be hired to assist with sales and technical support.
As the company enters the residential market, Mr Ivereigh said it would later add larger internet packages – a 500 megabit and a one-gigabit bundle.
“We don’t expect there will be a massive amount of takeup for the half gigabit and full gigabit,” he said.
“It’s for the gamer, the tech crowd, and the people that live off the internet, frankly, and there are quite a number of them.”
He said they would be more expensive products, but would offer better performance.
The entry into the residential market comes as complaints about connection to the NBN continues.
Last month NBN Co apologised to customers and said it would work to improve communication between it and telecommunications providers.
Mr Ivereigh weighed in and said the “drumbeat of complaints about the speed of the NBN” was the fault of telecommunications companies that did not purchase enough bandwidth.
“The end result is that at 6pm everybody slows down because there’s only so much bandwidth to go around,” he said.
He expected some decisions the NBN Co made around technology also “would come back and bite us”.
Launtel’s investment comes after the major telecommunications companies announced upgrades to Tasmanian infrastructure.
Last week Telstra upgraded its Bass Strait cable to allow for faster streaming and a more reliable service.
It follows upgrades to Optus’ infrastructure.