Dan Warne23 April 2009, 5:33 PM
When the going gets politically tough, the NBN gets going, apparently. Senator Conroy says the government is moving quickly to get started on the fibre network in regional areas.
The photocopying toner may be barely fused onto the plan for the $43 billion national broadband network, but Communication Minister Conroy says the government is already putting metaphorical shovels in the ground.
He says the government is "fast-tracking the National Broadband Network in regional Australia."
"We are moving to immediately improve the competitive market in regional Australia and are fast-tracking a $250 million investment in backbone fibre optic transmission links," Senator Conroy said.
"These are the broadband highways that connect our cities, towns and rural areas to the wider world."
"In parts of Australia particularly links connecting our rural and regional areas competition is limited as there is only a single provider of these services."
ISPs have long said that having Telstra as the sole supplier of backhaul to regional locations is one of the biggest barriers to rolling out broadband services to homes in those areas. This is inevitably met with a shrill response from Telstra along the lines of, "well why don't yer build it yourself?"
Senator Conroy's press announcement mentions an ACCC study that found places with only a single provider of backhaul services included Geraldton in Western Australia, Mt Gambier in South Australia, Broken Hill in New South Wales, Mildura in Victoria, Mt Isa in Queensland, and Darwin in the Northern Territory.