NBN must roll-in to cities, not roll-out: Nationals

James Riley
Thursday, 01 October 2009 14:57

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

If a primary reason for building the $43 billion National Broadband Network was to provide better connections to under-served areas, there was 'no excuse' for not starting the build in regional Australia, NSW Nationals senator Fiona Nash said.

And if government was serious about services in the bush, it should consider the creation of a scheme that encouraged the development of new broadband-based services in health and education that would relieve some of the inequities felt by regional Australians.

But until Communications Minister Stephen Conroy provides detail about how the NBN would be rolled out – and which areas would be serviced by fibre and which by other technologies – it was impossible to gauge its impact on regional Australia, Senator Nash said.

"The biggest issues with the NBN in the region’s still have to be worked out," she said. "What technology will be used, where will it be used and how will it be rolled out – these are all details we don’t know."

"Conroy has said it will roll-out as 100 to 90 (100mbps to 90 per cent of the population). But whenever we have asked he has not been able to give us any kind of geographic map of where that last 10 per cent is going to be."

The Nationals would seek clarification on the shape the network will take in regional Australia through the Senate estimates process in a fortnight. Specifically, they want to see the geographic overlays that determine which areas are serviced by what technology.

But right now Senator Nash is seeking a commitment that the under-served Australians living in regional Australia will be the first ones to get connected to the NBN.

"We want the NBN rolling-in to the cities," Senator Nash said, "not rolling-out from the cities. The biggest thing about the whole NBN process is that the regions must come first."

"There is absolutely no excuse to be starting the roll-out in the cities and not the regions, because it is the regions that are under-served, not the cities.

"There is this huge inequity between the services that are provided in the cities and those that are served in the regions, so the regions would have to be covered first – and that means actual connections to homes and businesses."