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The government's fibre broadband purse could be $2 billion lighter following a coalition announcement that it will oppose legislation to pool the Communications Fund into the national broadband network coffers.
A communications bill will be voted in the Senate within the next two sittings that would provide a potential $2 billion contribution to the joint-funded Fibre-to-the-Node (FttN) network.
The bill would effectively reverse former government amendments to the Telecommunications Act, which prevented Labor from using the fund as part of its $4.7 billion commitment to a FttN network.
Shadow communications minister Bruce Billson said the bill will stymie the broadband initiatives undertaken by remote communities which the provision funds.
"The Communications Fund is money in the bank and insurance for regional Australians that they won't be left behind by a digital divide.
"There is no single infrastructure project that will provide for service disadvantage forever, which is why the funds are needed to deal with the problem over time.
"The funding is there for regional Australians. There is a budget surplus which could be used [to fund the FttN network] instead."
He said the government has poured its energy into the national FttN network and is undermining its research into regional broadband solutions by reappropriating the Communications Fund.
Funds can be claimed by individuals, ISPs and community groups for expensive satellite connections, infrastructure builds, and supply of rural broadband at metro prices.
Billson said communities have pooled subsidies together to build out infrastructure including rural WiMAX networks.
The government can use $400 million in interest generated by the Communications Fund for non-regional initiatives.
Telecommunications analyst Paul Budde said the fibre network is a legitimate candidate for the funds.
"It is the job of the government to invest in national infrastructure like schools and roads, and fibre is no exception," Budde said.
"Many of these schemes were made to appease the market after the privatisation of Telstra. The government missed it's chance [for the structural separation of Telstra]."
Let us know your thoughts on the NBN in this week's Vent It: Is the Govt rushing the NBN build?
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Computerworld Live Podcast #97: The Future of Enterprise Networking 25/07/2008 09:45:36
This week CW Live chats with Mark Thompson, global sales and marketing manager for HP ProCurve, on the future of the enterprise networking. Mark discusses the trends we can expect to see in the near future and how the right infrastructure can ensure your enterprise network is secure. - +
Computerworld Live Podcast #96: Security at the Edge 11/06/2008 09:22:22
CW Live speaks with Amol Mitra, HP ProCurve Director of Marketing for Asia Pacific and Japan. Today's topic: how enterprises are starting to shift away from simply controlling security via server logins, firewalls and moving to more adaptive security frameworks. - +
Data Management Edition #10: Multi-Petascale Systems 02/05/2008 09:12:33
This week we look at sustainability and the development of multicore technologies to build multi-petascale systems. - +
IT Security Edition #11: How to poison the Storm botnet 01/05/2008 08:51:55
This week CW Live presents a case study on how to poison the notorious Storm botnet . Plus we take a look at Cisco's plans for Ironport. - +
IT Security Edition #10: Cyber-battles fought and won 24/04/2008 11:09:47
Vendors bow to end user pressure to improve product security, and we take a look at the latest concepts shaping the cyber-battlefield of the future.
F-Secure achieves excellent results in Internet security suite comparison 2008-10-10 14:37:00+10
M2M Connectivity announces the new Sierra Wireless MC8792V embedded module for 900 MHz 3G/HSPA networks 2008-10-10 08:51:00+10
Pitney Bowes MapInfo Launches New Version of AnySite 2008-10-10 05:58:00+10
IOGEAR Gears Up in Australia 2008-10-09 20:18:00+10
Internet Service Providers offer new unlimited Online Backup from F-Secure 2008-10-09 19:42:00+10
Vendor Influence Curves And How You Can Get The Best Value Out Of Your Network
Join a panel of experts that includes Mark Fabbi, VP Distinguished Analyst from Gartner Inc. and Mark Thompson, Global Sales/Marketing Manager, HP ProCurve, to examine the benefits that multi-vendor enterprise network architecture solutions can offer and the advantages of open architecture solutions. More importantly, they’ll help you determine the right solution for your information systems challenges.










