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Australian government to pay for faster broadband network
07 Apr 2009 | 13.00 Europe/London
The Australian Government is set to pour around £21 billion pounds into upgrading its broadband network after it decided against private investment. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd promised fast and affordable broadband when he was elected in 2007 and calls the country a "broadband backwater." "Just as railway tracks laid out the future of the 19th Century and electricity grids the future of the 20th Century," he says, "so broadband represents the core infrastructure of the 21st Century."
The plans are based around laying fibre -optic cables to homes, which will create a 100 Mbps network available to 90 per cent of Australia's population. The other 10 per cent will get broadband at 12Mbps via either wireless or satellite. Over here the Government's interim Digital Britain report states an aim of bringing broadband to all by 2012 - at speed of just 2 megabits per second. "It might be future-proofed in that the prospect of requirements for a future upgrade is lower than if the universal service commitment was set at a more basic level," the document says. In terms of funding, the Government will be relying on private investment.
Australia's mix of densely populated coastal areas and remote, isolated rural dwellings have made it difficult to furnish the country with broadband. It plans to start work on the programme next year. Mr. Rudd says it will create around 25,000 jobs, helping the country cope with the current economic crisis around the world.
The Australian government will sell on its stake five years after the network is finished. Mr. Rudd says the plan is "the single largest nation-building infrastructure project in Australia's history" and hopes it will "turbo-charge Australia's economic future."
[ BBC ]
The plans are based around laying fibre -optic cables to homes, which will create a 100 Mbps network available to 90 per cent of Australia's population. The other 10 per cent will get broadband at 12Mbps via either wireless or satellite. Over here the Government's interim Digital Britain report states an aim of bringing broadband to all by 2012 - at speed of just 2 megabits per second. "It might be future-proofed in that the prospect of requirements for a future upgrade is lower than if the universal service commitment was set at a more basic level," the document says. In terms of funding, the Government will be relying on private investment.
Australia's mix of densely populated coastal areas and remote, isolated rural dwellings have made it difficult to furnish the country with broadband. It plans to start work on the programme next year. Mr. Rudd says it will create around 25,000 jobs, helping the country cope with the current economic crisis around the world.
The Australian government will sell on its stake five years after the network is finished. Mr. Rudd says the plan is "the single largest nation-building infrastructure project in Australia's history" and hopes it will "turbo-charge Australia's economic future."
[ BBC ]