Aust opposition offers low-price NBN alternative

Liam Tung & Michael Carroll
11 Aug 2010
00:00

Australia’s opposition party would scrap the government’s planned A$43 billion ($56.7b) FTTH network in favor of a much cheaper option with similar coverage but lower speeds.

The plan, issued just ten days before the national election, with the two major parties neck and neck, has met with a critical reception from industry groups and analysts.

The Liberal-National coalition would spend just A$6.3 billion on a high-speed broadband network that would cover 97% of the country’s population with a minimum 12Mbps connection speed, using a mix of fiber, wireless networks, and upgraded DSL lines.

The Labor government proposes rolling out a 100Mbps fiber service to 93% of the population, with the remainder covered by a 12Mbps network.

The coalition would use A$2.75 billion of public money to construct the fiber backhaul it would seek up to A$750 million in private funding, The Australian reports.

The private investment would be enough to cover the upgrades to current DSL exchanges to ADSL2+, and the party would pump a further A$1 billion into constructing wireless networks to cover metropolitan and rural areas.

Related content

Follow Telecom Asia Sport!
Comments
No Comments Yet! Be the first to share what you think!
This website uses cookies
This provides customers with a personalized experience and increases the efficiency of visiting the site, allowing us to provide the most efficient service. By using the website and accepting the terms of the policy, you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with the terms of this policy.