ALEXANDRINA - A new inter-town wireless network will save the Alexandrina Council more than $20,000 a year in communication costs between council premises in Goolwa and Strathalbyn.

Designed by MIMP Connecting Solutions, the $200,000 network runs at 200 megabits per second, using a microwave tower on Ashbourne Road to create a 35 kilometre wireless connection between the two towns.

Alexandrina Council Manager of Information Technology Services, Colin Shackleford, said the new technology would be used to eliminate borders.

"In terms of communication, all our offices in Goolwa and Strathalbyn are now one huge office," he said.

"We have no inter-office call costs between offices in the two towns and our high-speed computer network makes email and file transfer virtually instantaneous.

"What this means for our ratepayers is a faster and more effective service across our region," Mr Shackleford said.

The Alexandrina mayor Kym McHugh said the council would own the new network after two years, and would eliminate the cost of connecting to its eight outlying offices through a telecommunications carrier.

"We've completely modernised our phone system and rolled it out to more premises, but are saving about $20,000 a year in line rental and data costs by disconnecting a large number of commercial phone lines and Internet services," he said.

MIMP General Manager Allan Aitchison said the new network would see a rapid payback period for the council.

"However, as communication use tends to increase over time, this will only accelerate Alexandrina's return on investment in the network, providing a great example for local governments elsewhere," he said.

Mr Shackleford said there was the potential for the network to expand in the future.

"It took about twelve months to get the link in place. It took a lot of negotiation to make sure we got it right.

"We have really made the network operate consistently over all offices, and there is no telling what we might be able to do for the community in the future," he said.