Fibre to be mandated for new real estate developments

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 23 December 2009 05:35

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

The Federal Government has released draft legislation that provides for the mandatory deployment of fibre in new developments.

Draft legislation released for comment today would allow the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy to specify classes of new developments where optical fibre must be used when fixed lines are installed.

The idea is to avoid the additional cost of retrofitting fibre to the premises, and to complement the NBN rollout.

"It is counter-productive to have our newest homes and businesses connected with old technology, particularly when it will cost more to retrofit them later. We want to ensure that people enjoy the benefits of superfast broadband services from the day they move in to a new home," Conroy said.
 
"The Government's greenfields policy builds on the growing trend in the development industry to have fibre to the premises installed. In recent weeks I've had the pleasure of launching FTTP in developments at Forde in the ACT and Alamanda in Victoria," he added.

The legislation is expected to be introduced in early 2010, and to come into effect from July 1.

The Government is working with the Communications Alliance and NBN Co to ensure new developments meet the relevant standards are can be integrated with the NBN.

The exposure draft of the bill is available here [PDF].