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What is the best broadband for rural Australians?

What's best for rural and regional Australians in the broadband and telecommunications debate has been the political line played enough times to sound like a worn-out record.

What's starting to give country people a headache, though, is the poor understanding the general public, and to an extent many politicians, have for what actually is the best type of service for the bush.

The Federal Government will tell you it's for the benefit of rural and regional Australians, not political mileage or a swipe at Telstra, that the recent broadband tender was awarded to OPEL.

It will provide fast-speed wireless broadband to 99pc of the population.

What most people, who have the luxury of a pretty fast internet speed anyway, don't understand is that there is a monstrous chunk of Australia – at a guess almost 80pc of the land mass – not covered by this plan.

Only 1pc of the population may live in this area – but they make a living from it, manage it and protect it for the rest of us with services that are not up to scratch anyway - and for them there's little to no improvement under the plan.

If the Government wants to talk seriously about telemedicine in remote Aboriginal communities, and imagine outback classrooms with the latest video links to teachers in the city, it's got some work to do.

The political football this week spread to the game between Federal candidates in the NSW seat of Calare, who tried to score a few points on the CDMA wireless local loop link being phased out to make way for the Next G link, which provide fixed home phone services to the most remote rural families.

Sadly, both candidates seemed to miss the point about universal service obligations and customer service guarantees before being pulled up by their constituents.

A guarantee for a basic, reliable phone service seemed to get lost in the back and forth of press releases.

The Nationals are on the right track in demanding the $400 million generated by the perpetual fund for communications is spent on the enormous 1pc region of Australia.

Let's hope they can convince their Coalition colleagues to start filling in some of the gaps in a real attempt to service the needs of the most remote outback families and communities.

What do you think?

Posted By: Lucy Skuthorp on 8/08/2007 5:41:07 AM | Comments (5)

Comments

Date: Newest first | Oldest first

I am yet another conned customer of this Next G Service. I live on Kangaroo Island SA where we are not only isolated by water to the mainland but now we don't even have a half reliable mobile phone service.

We have always struggled with our mobile service for many years, but thanks to some hard lobbying and CDMA technology we at least were able to use mobile phones in some areas of the Island.

Now they are pushing us to change over to Next G which I was assured with my new LG model phone would be good or even better than my previous CDMA service, well I did the migration thing last week and am very sorry that I did.

Yesterday the system was not working all day and consequently I lost much business as in my business I divert my landlines to my mobile while I am out and about. As if it is not TOUGH enough in the country, with substand basic services like sealed road etc, now we have to contend with this. I have contacted my Telstra Shop welling the phone and requested that I be given back my CDMA phone until they get it right. We out here in the Country, don't want all the fancy stuff that Next G has to offer WE JUST WANT A MOBILE SERVICE THAT WORKS AND IS RELIABLE, SO WE CAN JUST MAKE AND RECEIVE CALLS !!!! IS THIS TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR ??????

THERE ARE MANY OVER VERY UNHAPPY, BUT IT SEEMS TO FALL ON DEAF EARS ...... PERHAPS WE SHOULD GET THE MEDIA ONTO AGAIN.

Posted by Sue Florance on 9/08/2007 6:29:03 PM

I think you made an error...isn't Labor spending $4 billion of the money currently invested in U.S. housing on broadband?

Posted by Perter on 10/08/2007 3:08:30 PM

Labor will use that money for its fibre optic broadband plan, which proposes to roll out high-speed broadband to 98 per cent of the population.

Labor will get some of its funds generated from the perpetual communications fund which was established by the Government for investments in rural and regional communications.

The Nationals are demanding the money from that fund be used for what it was intended, with a particular focus on the vast region not covered by the OPEL broadband package.

Posted by Lucy Skuthorp on 10/08/2007 8:23:45 PM

I find the whole issue a smoke and mirrors exercise by all sides.

Posted by duck on 25/09/2007 9:42:41 PM

We have a big country and a small population.

We are the most urbanised country in the world.

We have massive duplication of telcom capacity and services in the profitable urban centres.

The less populated areas have a strange situation.

Three competetors all saying it is not profitable because their individual share of the local market is not profitable.

If there was only one provider in each marginal area there could be better service in those areas.

But - that's right - that is anti-competative .

Well tender out the areas on a periodic schedule? Compete that way.

At least that way consumers in marginal areas

might get to pay less of the costs of fierce competition in the cities.

Posted by duck on 25/09/2007 9:53:15 PM

The hibis sponsored satellite service provided by the federal government is a marvellous service.

I have a choice of over 20 providers to choose from, I get sufficient speed to enable banking and other buisiness to be conducted in an efficient manner, I can create and manage my own web site for marketing puposes and I have reduced my phone bill from $150/mth under the old telstra landline to $14/mth using VoIP.

Also my old Telstra landline was on its last legs and Telstra had told me they were not prepared to spend the $20,000 to renew it and suggested I use their next G mobile service (one problem we have no mobile coverage).

The Telstra sell off was one off the best decisions made for the bush.

Unfortunately I understand that Mr Rudd plans to remove the hibis sponsored service as Labor believes the money can be better spent supplying services to urban areas - what a backward step.

Posted by happy on 4/10/2007 9:16:55 PM