Northern Territory Broadband Deal

Member for Solomon, David Tollner said the Australian Government's Australia Connected program will provide fast, affordable broadband services to every community in the Northern Territory.
"The Australian Government has ensured that not only will 100 per cent of the Territory be able to access broadband, it will also guaranteee metro comparable pricing for the service.”

Mr Tollner explained that broadband would be guaranteed in three ways through Australia Connected.

"Capital cities such as Darwin, and major regional centres will receive a fibre-to-the-node rollout via a competitive bids process, a national high speed wholesale network will deliver a mix of fibre optic, ADSL2+ and WiMAX wireless to 99 per cent of the country and the Australian Broadband Guarantee provides a subsidised broadband service for very remote locations that may not be covered by the new network.”

"The Government has been making broadband more readily available across the country – to 4.3 million homes and businesses in the past 10 years, in fact. Since 2004, the Howard Government has allocated $5.3 million to the Northern Territory, resulting in 3000 broadband connections.”

Mr Tollner said it was important to point out precisely what the maps in the public arena reflected.

"Obviously the OPEL maps, show only the areas where the OPEL network will be rolled out. OPEL maps do not take into account, existing broadband coverage, the future fibre-to-the-node rollout or the coverage of the Australian Broadband Guarantee.

"Similarly, the maps that are being provided by Telstra Country Wide are maps of Next G mobile broadband coverage, not fixed broadband– which doesn't even count as broadband in OECD statistics.”

Mr Tollner said the OPEL joint venture between Elders and Optus was by far the best plan as it covered the most underserved premises-precisely the objective of the Broadband Connect tender.

"The OPEL plan means more Territorians will have access to better and upgradeable technology.”

Mr Tollner said the difference in broadband prices between Telstra and its competitors spoke volumes.

As part of the OPEL consortium, Elders has indicated that it will sell broadband services for around $35 for entry level services (1-2 Mbps) ranging up to $60 for the highest speed services (6-12 Mbps).
In contrast, Telstra's higher speed broadband services on NEXT G are priced at $114.95 per month for a 1.5mbps and 1GB per month download limit.

"Telstra's bid for funding was for the basic ADSL network. Typically this would only provide a service out to about four kilometres from an exchange, whereas OPEL's wireless network goes well beyond these ADSL distance limitations - up to 20 kilometres from the base station,” Mr Tollner said.

"In the Northern Territory alone, OPEL will build new WiMAX base stations, with the remainder of the region covered under the Australian Broadband Guarantee.

"Telstra was recently approved under the Australian Broadband Guarantee after agreeing to meet the minimum service requirements for that program. They should now be getting on with the job of assisting communities. I can assure all Territorians, that their best interests have been taken into account securing broadband services for now and well into the future,” Mr Tollner.

"The Australian Government has also committed to preserve the $2 billion Communications Fund. This will mean that up to $400 million in interest will be available every three years to ensure that all Australians and regional Australia, including remote areas like the Territory, are not left behind as communications technologies continue to improve.”

2007-07-13