Tasmania reports growth in ICT jobs

By eGov Innovation Editors | Jan 25, 2012

Thumbnail: 

Tasmania, the first state in Australia to roll-out the National Broadband Network, has announced new developments that supports the continued growth in its ICT sector.

David O’Byrne, Minister for Economic Development, recently announced expansion of M2 Telecommunications Group's contact and support center in Hobart's Central Business District, which the government has supported through incentives to relocate jobs to Tasmania from South Australia.

“This expansion brings 80 news jobs, and again shows Tasmania’s growing strength in the ICT sector,”  O’Byrne said in a media release in the government website. “The importance of a modern, dynamic ICT sector is highlighted in the State Government’s Economic Development Plan, which sets out a detailed strategy for growing jobs and opportunities over the next decade. As a government, we’re determined to keep supporting and diversifying the Tasmanian economy, so we can raise more revenue to invest in key services for our community."

M2 provides wholesale fixed line, mobile and data services to small and medium-sized telecommunications service providers and Internet Service Providers. Geoff Horth, CEO of M2, said the company is set on developing and expanding its Hobarts team.

The Ministry said Tasmania's economic momentum is off to a good start in a new year with 700 new jobs created since July, a 5.3 percent unemployment rate, which is the equal-second lowest across the states, and more than $4.3 billion of private investment over the past 12 months, among other accomplishments.