The recent completion of the broadband backbone link to Broken Hill will connect regional locations in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria.

About 1150 kilometres of fibre optic infrastructure has been laid out, with connected towns including Mildura, Swan Hill, Echuca/Moama, Kerang and Renmark.

It extends from Gawler in South Australia to Broken Hill in NSW and Shepparton, Victoria.

Backbone infrastructure provides the principal data and communications links that connect towns, cities and rural areas around the world.

Nextgen Networks built the Broken Hill link, as part of the federal government’s $250 million Regional Backbone Blackspots Program (RBBP).

The plan is delivering 6000 kilometres of fibre backbone across regional Australia for 400000 people.

Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Stephen Conroy said the fibre backbone infrastructure will give retail service providers the opportunity to offer better broadband services for around 137000 people along the route.

“Experience from the other completed RBBP links has proven that families and small businesses around the 1150 kilometre route can expect retailers to offer faster speeds, cheaper prices and bigger download quotas,” Mr Conroy said.

According to Mr Conroy, the Geraldton RBBP link, launched earlier this year, is providing speeds up to ten times faster, with double the download quota, for the same monthly price.