By Lilia Guan

 

Brisbane City Council has dumped i3 Asia Pacific bid to install broadband through the City’s sewerage pipes. 

 

A Council spokesperson said no contract had been signed with the company and Council was undertaking due diligence over the project. 
 
“The company failed to provide Council with the necessary information to sign a deal,” the spokesperson said.
 
“No cables had been rolled out.” 
 
Brisbane Council announced in October last year, that all Brisbane residents and businesses could have access to broadband within four years at no cost to ratepayers, separate from the Federal Government’s NBN initiatives.

 

Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said Brisbane-based multinational i3 Asia Pacific recently conducted a trial of the technology in Brisbane using the city’s wastewater pipe network.

 

However, the announcement garnered criticism from Gartner’s enterprise communications applications, research vice president and Brisbane resident, Geoff Johnson.

 

The analyst said at the time the plan with i3 was wasn’t “practical or feasible”.

 

Despite the i3 project falling through, Council was still adamant about supplying Broadband to residents.

 

“Other international companies have expressed interest in rolling out broadband through the sewer network,” the Council spokesperson said.

 

“Council's position is that we won't put any ratepayer money into it, but we will facilitate access.”