WITH some of the country's biggest tech entrepreneurs on board, Rockhampton Regional Council is hoping to compete with the telco giants.

Rockhampton Mayor Margaret Strelow will host a public meeting on July 15 to introduce a planning group, tasked with determining if a not-for-profit Rockhampton company could provide data at a cheaper rate than the national telcos.

Former Rockhampton man and tech entrepreneur Jason Gomersall will be part of the group and is also working on a business plan for the venture.

Bevan Slattery has also been involved, consulting with the council on the best way forward.

Council has already taken charge in some respects, laying high speed optic fibre cables in Quay St during the riverbank redevelopment in a bid to overcome issues with the Federal Government's fibre to the node NBN rollout.

In the past, Cr Strelow has said this was the only option to achieve council's Smart City vision in the future.

This fibre rollout is set to continue with Cr Strelow yesterday saying cables would be laid whenever council had to reconstruct a road in the future.

"The original challenge for this group will be to go away and see if it makes sense," she said.

"At the very least, if it's a goer, it's a not-for-profit company that will buy bulk capacity off NBN and on-sell it at a cheaper price with the goal of encouraging local business in Rockhampton.

"It is likely that council would then make its infrastructure available where we already own fibre or where we're installing it."

Cr Strelow said anyone who wanted to buy into the venture could access data.

She said NBN Co acted as a wholesaler with companies like Telstra simply buying capacity and selling it on.

That's how Cr Strelow hopes a Central Queensland telco could work.

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"It will need a certain number of connections to be viable and it may be 4000 or 5000 connections," she said.

If it's not viable to establish a telco, Cr Strelow said the city may be able to form a "buying group" and approach companies like Telstra for a deal.

But the Morning Bulletin's technology columnist, Kerr Solutions owner Bruce Kerr, is strongly opposed to the proposal.

Instead, Mr Kerr said councils should focus on infrastructure like roads and footpaths instead of duplicating services already available.

"We've got all the telcos under the sun that are responsible for giving us internet access," he said.

"If they had done it 15 years ago, than that would have been brilliant.

"But they have missed the boat.

"It's taking council's focus away from what they should be doing."