UPDATE: Sunshine Coast Link Delivers Esports to the World
| The Sunshine Coast is poised to become Australia’s global esports hub thanks to its high-speed international fibre link. The COVID-19 crisis played havoc with professional sport in 2020 but it proved a boon for another form of sporting contest: esports. The Sunshine Coast is in a prime position to play a key part in that opportunity due to the city's international broadband cable network. The city's cable landing station, in the Maroochydore City Centre, no doubt contributed to Walker Corporation’s recent agreement with the Sunshine Coast Council to commit $2.5 billion to the broader Maroochydore development project. During the past decade the competitive esports industry has grown and become better organised, with professional contests offering big prize money for competitors globally. Global esports revenue was expected to reach US$1.1 billion in 2020, a big opportunity for esports leagues, participants and game developers. Broadband service provider OneQode is one of the Sunshine Coast cable-landing station’s newest tenants. |
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According to its CEO Matt Shearing, one of the key factors governing the growth of esports is players being able to compete on an even footing in regards to data.
“The quality of a competitive gamer’s broadband connection is critical. Not only do they need a high-speed connection, they also need low latency,” Shearing said.
Latency is the response time of a network. A gamer on a high-latency network is at a disadvantage to one with lower latency.
While latency is not usually a problem when people are competing within the same city or area, Shearing says it is a major issue when competing internationally, where a lag of just 100 milliseconds (ms) can be a significant handicap.
The Sunshine Coast solution
OneQode has found an innovative way to create a level playing field for international gaming.
The compnay is using the high-speed Sunshine Coast International Broadband Submarine Cable to connect its servers on the Sunshine Coast to its other servers on the Pacific island of Guam, about midway between Australia, Asia and North America.
“We have infrastructure in the Sunshine Coast cable landing station which allows us to hit up to 1.5 billion gamers in Asia Pacific with under 100ms of latency from Guam,” Shearing said.
“There is nowhere else in the world from which you can do that.
“It means Asian, North American and Australian players can essentially play at the same location.”
OneQode is testing the concept with a global esports tournament featuring teams from the Sunshine Coast, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Singapore and Tokyo. A tournament date is yet to be announced.
The concept has attracted the attention of 20-year-old global esports company ESL’s Asia Pacific Japan senior vice president and managing director Nick Vanzetti.
“Low latency offered by services such as the Sunshine Coast cable is exactly what the esports industry needs for our tournaments and global broadcasts,” Vanzetti said.
Shearing believes this project will also generate benefits for local games developers as they will be able to reach a larger population of players.
“There are a lot of great Aussie game developers out there. We just need to give them opportunities,” Shearing said.
“It would make a lot of sense for a games developer to base themselves on the Sunshine Coast, especially given the region is experiencing strong growth and the lifestyle and environment is so spectacular.”
Shearing said games developers can often provide the nucleus for a new industry cluster and create opportunities for other service providers such as illustrators, graphic designers and musicians.
Game on
The Australian games development industry is already experiencing solid growth—the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association released data in January this year that showed the industry had grown its revenue by 29 per cent since 2019.
According to the association, the games industry has the potential to become a digital-manufacturing powerhouse and be a major contributor to Australia’s economic revival.
The demand for gaming and esports is only likely to grow, with the association citing figures that suggest the industry was worth US$250 billion in 2020—nearly 10 times the global music industry.
For Shearing, those figures provide a strong endorsement for OneQode’s strategy of developing low-latency international network connections using the Sunshine Coast International Broadband Network.
“Network demands are going to go up and up as time goes on,” Shearing said.
“People are going to need better and better connectivity, and that is what we are building for.”
Commercial and residential property projects are under way in the Maroochydore City Centre precinct, the site of the Sunshine Coast Submarine Broadband Network which operates from the landing station, including the Sunshine Coast Council new city hall project.
At a time when many property managers are trying to bring tenants back to office blocks, the first commercial building in Maroochydore is 100 per cent leased.
Now that the Sunshine Coast has created the fastest fibre-data link to Asia from Australia’s east coast, this kind of demand is coming from a variety of sectors, including rapidly growing and non-traditional industries such as esports.
The Sunshine Coast Council is actively encouraging business investment in the region.
Its Trade and Investment team provides a free concierge-style service for medium- to large-businesses looking for location or development opportunities.
Business support includes site selection assistance, assistance with navigating council planning requirements, introductions to local business networks and financial incentives for large-scale investments (individually assessed against criteria).
Last year, Sunshine Coast Council launched its “Give your business a boost of Vitamin SC— Sunshine Coast!” A campaign ebook outlines the region's business benefits.
Main image: Sunshine Coast Submarine Cable landing station, Maroochydore
Future fast approaching with Sunshine Coast cable landing station complete
26 September 2019 | Source: Queensland Government
Around 860 jobs are a step closer as the landing station for the $35 million Sunshine Coast International Broadband Network is completed.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the project facilitated the direct landing of a new undersea internet data cable at Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast and generate almost $1 billion for the state economy.
“This $7.2 million cable landing station is the gateway to better internet connectivity for Queensland businesses,” the Premier said.
“Better connectivity means faster processing times for bigger data and more jobs. The cable will be able to provide Australia’s fastest data and telecommunications transmission speeds to Asia and the second fastest to the USA. It pitches Queensland firms to the forefront of the digital economy and will be a major drawcard for businesses and investment.
“We announced $15 million in funding to support this in 2017 and we are now seeing the benefits. This is an investment that plans for the future and opens the opportunity for the jobs of the future here on the Sunshine Coast.”
The Palaszczuk Government is supporting Sunshine Coast Council in delivering this future-focused telecommunications infrastructure with a $15 million investment through its $175 million Jobs and Regional Growth Fund.
The cable landing station is adjacent to the Maroochydore City Centre Priority Development Area.
RTI Connectivity is building the 9700-kilometre submarine cable between Japan, Guam and Australia (JGA), and a 550-kilometre branch will connect the JGA cable to the new landing station, and is expected to be in service by mid-2020.
State Development Minister Cameron Dick said the broadband network will supercharge Queensland when it comes to jobs and the economy.
“An independent assessment commissioned by Sunshine Coast Council found this project could lead to an estimated 864 new jobs in the Sunshine Coast region, and could generate $927 million for Queensland’s economy,” Mr Dick said.
“This is a genuinely exciting development for this fast-growing part of our state, and once delivered will be the only international cable landing on the Australian east coast outside of Sydney.
“It’s also important to note the cable landing station has been built with the capacity to accommodate up to four submarine cables – futureproofing that will ensure additional cables can be connected quickly and efficiently.
“I commend Sunshine Coast Council for having the foresight to pursue this transformative project. The Palaszczuk Government is pleased to help connect Queensland to the world.”
Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson said the completion of the cable landing station marked another milestone in the delivery of the Sunshine Coast international broadband network.
“Unlike traditional cable landing stations that are normally non-descript buildings out of view from the general public, our landing station is designed to reflect council’s design vision for the Maroochydore city centre,” Cr Jamieson said.
“Our Sunshine Coast will offer the fastest data and telecommunications transmission from the eastern seaboard of Australia to Asia once the submarine cable comes ashore and is in service next year. It will position our region to become Australia’s first digital trade hub – taking a region-wide approach to data and digital connectivity that will benefit a wide cross-section of businesses and industries.
“Projects such as the Sunshine Coast International Broadband Network enable our region, its economy and our community to be well-positioned to respond to the rapidly evolving demands of the 21st century.”
JOINT STATEMENT | Premier and Minister for Trade, The Honourable Annastacia Palaszczuk | Minister for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning, The Honourable Cameron Dick
Pacific Subsea Cable will link Maroochydore to Asia and US
7 September 2018 | Sunshine Coast Council
Australia’s fastest telecommunications connection to Asia and second fastest to the United States will occur from the Sunshine Coast, thanks to a new international submarine cable contract that has been agreed between Sunshine Coast Council and RTI Connectivity Pty Ltd (RTI-C).
Mayor Mark Jamieson said Sunshine Coast Council was the first local government in Australia to secure an investment in an international submarine cable and in an increasingly digital world, the value of this investment for the region’s future could not be understated.
“Without a doubt, this infrastructure investment will result in a significant point of difference for the Sunshine Coast,” Mayor Jamieson said.
The project includes a 550km undersea fibre optic cable which will connect the Sunshine Coast to the 9600km Japan-Guam-Australia South (JGA-S)* submarine cable that is currently being delivered by a consortium led by RTI-C.
At Guam, the JGA-S cable will connect to the SEA-US Cable System, a highly efficient Trans-Pacific cable which will forge connections between South-East Asia and the United States for more than 1.5 billion people.
The investment of up to $35 million in the undersea cable connection from the Sunshine Coast to the JGA-S cable plus supporting land-based infrastructure is being jointly funded by the Sunshine Coast Council and the Queensland Government, with the project forecast to deliver up to 864 new jobs and stimulate $927 million in new investment in Queensland.
Mayor Jamieson said he believed these figures were conservative, given our insatiable demand for data and that data traffic from Australia was increasing by at least 40% annually.
“The Sunshine Coast will provide the fastest, most affordable international connection point for Queensland and Australia to Asia, providing a significant step-change in Queensland’s attractiveness as an investment location,” Mayor Jamieson said.
“This project will stimulate investment and jobs growth on the Sunshine Coast thanks to the superior telecommunications connectivity and data infrastructure and could serve to attract some of the world’s biggest data users to our region.
“This game-changer will transform the Sunshine Coast and open up enormous opportunities for Queensland.”
“The reality is only a small volume of international telecommunications is delivered via satellite, with 95 to 99 per cent of Australia’s internet needs serviced by a limited number of undersea cables coming into Sydney and Perth – a risk and limitation for Australia’s internet connectivity and commercial data centre capacity,” Minister Dick said.
“The landing of a submarine cable on the Sunshine Coast will not only diversify the landing locations for telecommunications traffic, but will also provide speed, reliability and capacity improvements for the whole of the state.
“A modern and growing knowledge-based economy relies on access to high-speed communications networks to ensure fast and reliable delivery of services across our state, from key social services to telehealth in our hospitals.
“This initiative will bolster connectivity and reliability of these networks, and the services that rely on them, benefiting all Queenslanders.
“This landmark project will transform the way the Sunshine Coast runs and open up enormous opportunities for Queensland.”
Mayor Jamieson said most of Queensland’s data and voice communications currently travelled to Sydney via land, before heading to its international destination through submarine cables.
“People don’t realise that every time you make an international phone call or transfer data overseas, every time you search Google, every time you like something on Facebook, it doesn’t go through a satellite,” Mayor Jamieson said.
“In fact, the majority of Australia’s international voice and data traffic travels via submarine cables.
“To have all Australian east-coast international cables landing in Sydney is not only more expensive, it’s a huge business and national security risk if those cables are damaged at the same time.”
Mayor Jamieson said the international submarine cable – which would connect to a new cable landing station near the Maroochydore City Centre - would increase data transmission speed, provide greater redundancy and should, over time, lead to a reduction in international communications costs for business and consumers.
“New cables and new technology have tended to drive down prices and create a more efficient environment.
“Our ratepayers will also benefit from the agreements we have reached with RTI-C because council will receive a revenue stream from customers accessing the JGA-S cable network through the Sunshine Coast cable connection.
“Once again, our council is at the forefront of thinking outside the square, securing new revenue sources and pursuing opportunities to generate economic and employment growth as a major dividend for our residents, thus ensuring we continue to be Australia’s healthy, smart, creative region.
“It also fulfils another key commitment I made in the lead up to the 2016 local government election.
“Arguably, the submarine cable will be the leader in our suite of game-changers for this region.
“Our Sunshine Coast Solar Farm – which was another local government first; our Sunshine Coast Airport Expansion project; and the Maroochydore City Centre – Australia’s only greenfield CBD and about to become Australia’s fastest CBD, are all examples.”
Mayor Jamieson also acknowledged the support of the Federal Member for Fairfax, Ted O’Brien, who has been a long-standing supporter of this project and who helped secure $250,000 in funding from the Commonwealth Government for a feasibility study for the submarine cable project in 2016.
RTI CEO Russ Matulich said the investment by the Sunshine Coast Council and the Queensland Government placed the Sunshine Coast on the business map of the world.“Businesses need the fastest communications path between two locations,” Mr Matulich said.
“They need the ability to store data and this new cable, and the landing station at Maroochydore, will enable this to happen.
“The Sunshine Coast cable is in an outstanding location because it provides physical diversity – a new location into Australia – which is a high priority for government and commercial reasons.
“This new path will deliver traffic into and out of Australia faster than the Sydney route because it is geographically closer to mainland China and Hong Kong, where there are over 1.1 billion people; to Japan where there are several hundred million people; and to the west coast of the United States where big companies such as Facebook, Google and Amazon are located.
“Compared to other destinations, the Sunshine Coast project is one of the few cables that will be able to reach into those big cities over one network – RTI’s network.”
Mr Matulich said the international submarine cable would also benefit small business because it provided better connectivity, speed and redundancy and encouraged new companies to look at the Sunshine Coast to take advantage of the connectivity to international communications infrastructure.
“The whole community wins because they are getting the residual benefit of big investment coming into the region,” he said.
“International submarine cables impact economies by increasing communications, trade and education. The higher the number of cables, the higher GDP per capita.
“And the more cables landing in a specific location improves the quality of life, not just for the local citizens but for the nation.”
The submarine cable, to be supplied and installed by Alcatel Submarine Network (ASN), is expected to be completed by the first half of 2020.
ASN president Philippe Piron said the organisation was proud to work with RTI and Sunshine Coast Council.
“ASN is very pleased our technology will be used to provide high speed connectivity to the Australian east coast, thanks to the investment by Sunshine Coast Council.”
