Following World Telecommunications and Information Society Day last Friday, our CEO Richard Kelleway shares his thoughts on the future for our industry, and his pride in the teams that are helping deliver some of the most significant telecommunications projects across Australia and New Zealand.

"The way our society communicates and manages information is fundamentally changing," Richard said.

"Tied to this is the pace of change in the telco space. It is rapid, and while this certainly brings challenges, it is also an interesting time to be involved."

Reflecting on the part Visionstream has played in the telecommunications industry in Australia and New Zealand, Richard points to some standouts — the two national broadband rollouts, and the construction of an extended mobile network across Australia.

Our people, and everyone who works with us, should be really proud of their involvement in these projects. They can look back and know they played a key role in building significant infrastructure for our communities.

"As an example, with more than 2.5 million premises passed for the national broadband network in Australia we've played a significant role in that project for many years and we are very proud of that.'

"Not only is the size and scale of the rollouts impressive, but multiple technologies used across them has made for both really challenging and exciting times," he said.

Looking forward, Richard is enthusiastic about the future of the telecommunications industry and the role that Visionstream will play in this.

"We're living in the digital age and technology will continue to be a huge driver," he said.

"We are seeing exponential growth in data and the demand for it. Industries are being disrupted; We now have billions of connected devices — and all of this requires more bandwidth.'

"It's an exciting thing to be a part of as there is a great need to embrace change, be agile and innovate".

One of the biggest advances coming in the industry is 5G.

"Having built thousands of mobile base stations over the years we are looking forward to the challenge of helping to build the many thousands of stations required for 5G," Richard said.

"We will be watching to see how the launch of the new 5G networks in Korea and Japan evolve. Australia has traditionally been a fast follower in the adoption of new technologies, so it will be a good indication of what may happen here".

With an extensive history of providing telecommunications infrastructure, combined with the determination to embrace change and innovation, Richard said Visionstream is well placed to be a key part of the telecommunications industry for many years to come.

"We've been successfully delivering telecommunications infrastructure for many years, as a partner to our region's major telecommunications providers," he said.

"There have been many advances over that time and we've always embraced that and been at the forefront of delivering the newest technology."