This week the state was the first to undergo the transformation of Telstra’s national transmission network.

The upgrade will increase network capacity across the Bass Strait from 400 gigabits to one terabit per second on each of Telstra’s two subsea cables – the equivalent of 200,000 high-definition videos being streamed simultaneously.

The upgrade is expected to increase capacity and flexibility, improve resilience and move towards setting up the country for new technologies.

Telstra area general manager Michael Patterson said the upgrade would help meet future demand.

“With the explosion in smart devices, video streaming and cloud computing we are forecasting that Telstra will have five times the traffic on our network over the next five years and more than four times the devices than we have today,” he said.

“This transmission upgrade project is about making sure we have the capacity in place to meet these demands.

“Everything from mobiles to business products to our NBN services relies on our transmission network, which forms the backbone of our national network.

“Tasmania is the first state to have this work completed as part of a three-year plan to upgrade the national transmission network, which is great news for local businesses and consumers.”

TasICT chief executive Will Kestin described the move as a smart one by Telstra.

“This is also a strategic move by Telstra to compete – with regards to Optus – making a greater investment in Tasmania,” he said.

“We’re hoping the increased capacity will result in competitive prices.

“We believe that it will.”

Mr Kestin said people could notice increased speeds due to the transformation, depending on their internet package.

“It will allow regional areas that have not have the ability to get that speed, to do that,” he said. 

Mr Patterson said the design of the network meant improved resiliency and robustness.

He said 20 exchanges have been upgraded as part of the project, including sites in Burnie, Devonport, Launceston and Hobart.