Coonan's broad-band-aid

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 07 March 2007 08:12

Opinion and Analysis

Remember Bob Hawke's empty promise that by 2000 no child in Australia would live in poverty? The Howard Government is now promising that no Australian will live without broadband, but the promise does not stand up to close scrutiny.

Coonan is touting the $162.5 million Broadband Guarantee, announced today  as an aid to getting broadband to all Australians, but it is more like a band-aid: a protective measure to keep out the dirt in the hope that nature will provide a permanent solution.

Quite simply the Government wants the broadband 'issue' off the agenda until after the next election, and this scheme is intended to do precisely that. You can tell by the sense of urgency: the programme will commence with the issue of final guidelines on 2 April, just one week after the issue of draft guidelines. Contrast that with the ill-fated but not dissimilar metro broadband black spots programme:  almost two years from budget funding allocation to the issue of final guidelines!.

According to Coonan: "The Australian Broadband Guarantee will provide universal broadband for all Australians. Anyone unable to gain a reasonable level of broadband service at their principal place of residence or small business will receive a subsidised broadband service. It's as simple as that."

OK, but what is a reasonable broadband service and what kind of service will they get under the subsidy?

The service provider guidelines for the programme are rather more specific here: "The Australian Broadband Guarantee is a targeted Government program aimed at providing universal access to a metro-comparable level of broadband service across Australia."