Australia aims to lead world in broadband
Australia aims to lead world in broadband
The Australian, State and Territory governments (bar Victoria) have endorsed a vision which seeks to establish Australia as a world leader in delivering broadband in the areas of health, education, community, small and medium enterprises, commerce and government.
The Australian, State and Territory governments (bar Victoria) have endorsed a vision which seeks to establish Australia as a world leader in delivering broadband in the areas of health, education, community, small and medium enterprises, commerce and government.
The National Broadband Strategy, which has already had $142.8 million committed to it by the Australian Government, will also focus on improving broadband services to research centres, advanced industries and to regional and remote areas of Australia.
This funding seeks to improve the price, increase the availability of broadband services and capture the social benefits of broadband connectivity.
The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Daryl Williams, said. "I am encouraged by the cooperation of all States and Territories in developing this important strategy. However, it is disappointing that, despite being consulted on its preparation, the Victorian Government has failed to endorse the National Broadband Strategy.
"All States and Territories are represented on the National Broadband Strategy Implementation Group (NBSIG), which has performed a critical role in developing this strategy and will continue to play a vital role as it is implemented.
The key elements of the Australian Government's contribution to the action plan include the $107.8 million Higher Bandwidth Incentive Scheme, so more people can afford broadband services; the $23.7 million Coordinated Communications Infrastructure Fund, to build the infrastructure of broadband in the health and education sector; and the $8.3 million demand aggregation broker program to increase demand for broadband in regional areas.
An initiative such as this will be a welcome relief after the OECD reported that Australia continued to fall in broadband penetration compared to 29 other OECD countries.
Australia has slipped from 18th to 20th place in the world rankings between June 2002 and June 2003, falling behind the UK and Italy.
Click here for The National Broadband Strategy.
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