2 March 2005
Bolstering Telecommunications Services in the Bush
The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, continued the rollout of recommendations stemming from the Regional Telecommunications Inquiry (Estens Inquiry) during a three day visit to regional Queensland this week.
"The Government's response to Estens is well underway with 21 of the 39 recommendations fully implemented and a number of others well under way," Senator Coonan said.
"And over the next couple of weeks there will be significant progress on a range of recommendations relating to future-proofing telecommunications services in rural and regional Australia.
"I propose to introduce legislation into Parliament next week to require regular reviews of regional telecommunications and I will formally consult Telstra on plans to require them to maintain a local presence as part of their licence conditions.
"Estens recommended that a Local Presence Plan require a decentralised, regionally based structure within Telstra with locally based people working with local communities. This is about ensuring that regional customers continue to be an important and identifiable part of Telstra's business operations.
"Estens suggested that the Plan require Telstra to channel appropriate resources to regional Australia to ensure services are connected, faults are fixed and investment in new and improved services continues.
"With the cooperation of Telstra we would hope to have a Local Presence Plan approved and in place in the second half of this year.
"I am also very pleased to be able to release today the Government's response to the review of payphones which was another recommendation of the Estens report.
"Payphones continue to play a very important role in the Australian community although their role has probably changed over the years with the widespread take-up of mobile phones.
"In responding to the Australian Communications Authority's review the Government will require the ACA to work with Telstra to review and update many aspects of Telstra's payphones policy.
"The Government will continue to work closely with Telstra to design specific telephone services that meet the needs of remote indigenous communities.
"Full implementation of the Government's response to the Estens Inquiry is a priority. One of the reasons behind my series of visits to regional Australia is to see for myself the impact of the Government's many regional telecommunications initiatives.
"As I travel around I see new communities getting competitive access to affordable broadband for the first time as a direct result of the Government's HiBIS program.
"And I continue the rollout of important infrastructure such as mobile phone towers to help improve mobile phone coverage across the country.
"This is all about ensuring that Australians, regardless of where they live, have access to affordable telecommunications services."
Media Contact: Jane McMillan 0438 690 305