Community benefits

We are more than just a provider of telecommunication services. We provide our local business community with a greater level of involvement and say in what telecommunication and value-added services are available.

To identify and document the impact a Community Telco company has on the region in which it operates, a study of Bendigo Community Telco's economic and social contribution to the Bendigo region was undertaken.

This Bendigo-specific example demonstrates that, with a locally owned and influenced telecommunications company that's committed to improving infrastructure and services, regional businesses now have the potential to compete on equal footing with their metropolitan counterparts.

The benefits identified in this study include the following:

• An increase in economic development, particularly industry development
• Greater prosperity for the entire region
• Diversified employment opportunities
• Creation of new jobs, particularly high value jobs in Information Technology and Telecommunications (IT&T) industries
• A diversified economic base beyond traditional resource and commodity sectors
• Enhanced educational programs, particularly in distance education
• Reduced 'brain drain' to major cities
• Improved health care and social programs delivery
• Significant efficiencies achieved by government
• Business productivity improvement
• Opportunities to competitively access markets outside the region

Source: Economic Impact Analysis (2007) undertaken by Bendigo based research company Compelling Economics.