Some 2700 new apartments in the Melbourne CBD will be fitted out with fibre optic cable infrastructure in a project by engineering and sustainability firm, Umow Lai. The development, known as the Upper West Side, is being built on the site of the former Lonsdale Street power station that borders Spencer Street. The firm refers to the development as a ‘mini suburb’ due to the scale of the project but Umow Lai’s project team head, Andrew Oxley, said the company is up to the task of providing the infrastructure for a project its size. SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe “We will be supplying fibre optic cables for each and every one of the 2700 apartments,” he said. “This is quite a feat, even more so because it’s a first for a project of this size in Australia.” The development will use Fibre to the Home (FttH) technology, making it one of the largest medium density unit projects in the CBD of any city in Australia, according to Umow Lai ICT consultant and project team member, Vivek Arya. “With the National Broadband Network rollout beginning around Australia, the biggest challenge for the Umow Lai team has been to provide a design that was both cost effective and future proof,” Arya said. “To meet this challenge, we are using a specially designed optic fibre solution capable of catering for ultra high-speed internet and next generation phone and TV services and our team has put together a remarkable solution. As well as being cost effective, it is truly innovative.” he said. According to Umow Lai engineers, the firm is working closely with telecommunications carrier and ISP, Service Elements, which will provide carrier services to the development. Service Elements has been involved with the regular NBN Co briefings and carrier design meetings. “There is an ongoing engagement between Umow Lai and market leading vendors and manufacturers that has ensured the designs are compliant with the latest industry standards and trends,” a company spokesperson said. The network will integrate with the development’s security CCTV and the access control intercom system. Construction is currently underway for the one and two bedroom apartments and 60 retail outlets and is expected to be completed in 2014. Umow Lai has been working closely with Upper West Side’s developer, the Hong Kong-based Far East Consortium, and is also engaged on another large commercial project in LaTrobe Street’s Digital Harbour precinct. Follow Georgina Swan on Twitter: @swandives Follow CIO Australia on Twitter: @CIO_Australia Related content feature The year’s top 10 enterprise AI trends — so far In 2022, the big AI story was the technology emerging from research labs and proofs-of-concept, to it being deployed throughout enterprises to get business value. This year started out about the same, with slightly better ML algorithms and improved d By Maria Korolov Sep 21, 2023 16 mins Machine Learning Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence opinion 6 deadly sins of enterprise architecture EA is a complex endeavor made all the more challenging by the mistakes we enterprise architects can’t help but keep making — all in an honest effort to keep the enterprise humming. By Peter Wayner Sep 21, 2023 9 mins Enterprise Architecture IT Strategy Software Development opinion CIOs worry about Gen AI – for all the right reasons Generative AI is poised to be the most consequential information technology of the decade. Plenty of promise. But expect novel new challenges to your enterprise data platform. By Mike Feibus Sep 20, 2023 7 mins CIO Generative AI Artificial Intelligence brandpost How Zero Trust can help align the CIO and CISO By Jaye Tillson, Field CTO at HPE Aruba Networking Sep 20, 2023 4 mins Zero Trust Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe