Tasmanian budget pumps $14.87m into NBN initiatives

Stuart Corner
Thursday, 11 June 2009 13:32

IT Industry - Strategy

The Tasmanian Government, in its state budget, has confirmed it will invest $12.7m into Aurora Energy and has announced other initiatives designed to maximise broadband opportunities created by the National Broadband Network (NBN), which will be rolled out first in Tasmania.

The $12.7m will be spent taking equity in the state's strategic telecommunications partner, Aurora Energy for the future operation of its optic fibre network. However this investment was flagged in November 2008. $1 million has been allocated for legal and advisory support to assist with the establishment of the NBN and $1 million over three years to support the Tasmanian Electronic Commerce Centre (TECC). The Government also plans to create a Digital Futures Advisory Committee to identify opportunities associated with the NBN, but has not put a funding figure on this initiative.

When the Federal Government announced the $43b NBN on 7 April it said it would fast-track negotiations with the Tasmanian Government, as suggested by the Panel of Experts, to build on the Tasmanian Government's response to the RFP for the first National Broadband Network and begin the rollout a FTTP network and next generation wireless services in Tasmania as early as July 2009.

The following day communications minister Stephen Conroy and prime minister Kevin Rudd flew to Devonport to joint Tasmanian premier, David Bartlett in announcing that the Tasmanian Government , in conjunction with Aurora Energy, would construct a fibre to the premises (FTTP) network which would deliver speeds of 100Mbps, connecting over 200,000 Tasmanian households and businesses and would extend to all hospitals and almost 90 percent of schools.

Announcing the moves, Tasmanian premier, David Bartlett, said: "Hundreds of millions of dollars is expected to be spent on construction, there will also be opportunities to attract additional investment in support infrastructure, specialised training facilities, dedicated research and development teams and a host of national and international suppliers looking to prepare for the national roll-out.

According to Bartlett, "The TECC was a key to the success of the TasCOLT Fibre-to-the-Home pilot project, upon which Tasmania's successful NBN proposal was based. The TECC has a vital future role to play in ensuring Tasmania maximises the opportunities that will arise as the NBN rolls-out across the state."

The Digital Futures Advisory Committee will be co-ordinated by the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and the Arts "to identify and capture development, employment and investment opportunities that are likely to arise over the next 12 months."

Bartlett said the Tasmanian Government would begin implementing a range of activities designed to raise awareness and understanding of the network, including forums and events to stimulate creative thinking about future opportunities.