Facebook has teamed with Perth-based ISP Pentanet in an attempt to revolutionise internet coverage in Australia.
Pentanet is replacing its fixed wireless internet set up in Perth with the Terragraph system, which offers speeds of up to one gigabit (1000 megabits) wirelessly.
Pentanet listed on the IPO in January, raising $40 million in the process. Founder and MD Stephen Cornish has been in talks with Facebook for years, and believes they can now offer the best and cheapest internet plans in the country.
“Facebook has been developing all these new cutting edge technologies for last mile and fibre networks and we’re adopting some of that technology and implementing it into the Australian market because there’s been a hole left with our telecommunications,” Cornish explains.
While the Terragraph units are whip fast, they only cover a range of 250m, meaning Pentanet is now tasked with installing “thousands” of them across Perth.
Pentanet secured a 15-year licence this April for high-band 5G spectrum in Perth.
