056/04
19 May 2005
Broadband broker funding for rural and regional communities
A network of 24 community broadband brokers will work to bring people in regional areas a choice of broadband technologies and service providers, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, announced today.
Second round funding of $2.6 million from the Australian Government’s Community-based Broadband Demand Aggregation Broker Program will support 11 new community brokers. This is on top of the 13 brokers announced in round one of the Program in July 2004.
“Each broker will work with individuals, businesses, councils and other broadband users to aggregate demand in their region and then attract the best mix of broadband service providers for local needs,” Senator Coonan said.
“There are currently 30 companies registered under the Australian Government’s Higher Bandwidth Incentive Scheme ( HiBIS) to provide ADSL, satellite and wireless broadband services in regional areas. By working with these and other companies, the community brokers can bring people in regional areas a range of broadband technologies and service providers.”
The regional areas that will benefit from second round community broker funding include:
- Eden and the surrounding region in New South Wales
- The shires of Macedon, Mitchell and Murrindindi in Victoria
- The Wide Bay Burnett region in Queensland
- The Great Southern Country Zone of Western Australia.
A full list of the regions to benefit from the community broker funding is attached. Funding agreements will now be negotiated with each of the 11 preferred applicants.
The Demand Aggregation Broker Program is one element of the Australian Government’s contribution to the Action Plan of the National Broadband Strategy and forms part of the Government’s response to the Regional Telecommunications Inquiry (RTI).
More information on the Demand Aggregation Broker Program is available at www.dcita.gov.au/ie/broadband
SECOND ROUND COMMUNITY-BASED BROADBAND DEMAND AGGREGATION BROKER PROGRAM
NEW SOUTH WALES
Eden Community Access Centre
The community broker will work with the Eden Community Access Centre to undertake market research and community and business education campaigns, develop a business case to secure improved broadband connectivity, attract viable broadband service providers and implement broadband solutions.
The broker will seek to provide Eden and the surrounding region with access to affordable broadband solutions including education applications, health related services and business opportunities for a diverse range of local industries.
Wagga Wagga City Council
A community broker will be engaged by the Wagga Wagga City Council to increase community access to a range of broadband enabling solutions. The project will cover the Wagga Wagga local government area which comprises 4,000 sq kms. The broker will seek to provide a combination of solutions to meet the community’s broadband requirements.
NEW SOUTH WALES / QUEENSLAND
Tweed Shire Council
The Tweed Shire Council in partnership with the Ballina, Byron, Clarence Valley, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley, Beaudesert, Boonah and Redland Shire Councils will undertake an integrated ICT strategy for the region to promote and facilitate the expansion and take up of broadband. Currently, 20 per cent of the rural and region areas covered by the Council have access to broadband services.
Better broadband services will provide incentives for business growth, competitiveness and productivity in the region, export opportunities, rural and farming activities and more accessible health and education related services.
NEW SOUTH WALES / AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
Capital Region Development Board
The community broker for the Capital Region Development Board will stimulate demand and identify the need for wireless broadband services by educating and informing potential users in the region including the Snowy River, Tumut, Cooma Monaro and Bombala Shires.
Access to more affordable broadband services will provide business development and vocational education and training opportunities to communities in the region as well as better access to a range of health services.
VICTORIA
Macedon Ranges Shire Council
The Macedon Ranges project will engage a community broker to analyse potential and existing broadband markets across the region where existing and potential demand has struggled to attract broadband service providers.
The project covers the shires of Macedon, Mitchell and Murrindindi and supports a population of approximately 80,000 people over 6,000 sq kms. The community broker will work with communities in the region including Lancefield, Kyneton, Woodend, Romsey, Gisborne and Wallan to provide access to affordable broadband solutions.
QUEENSLAND
Church Resources
Church Resources is a not-for-profit organisation launched in 1997 under the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference to provide a voluntary buying cooperative for telecommunications products and services.
The Church Resources project seeks to create a prototype of community connectivity in the Rockhampton diocese through the use of ICT services that can ultimately be rolled out to other areas of regional Australia.
The Rockhampton diocese covers approximately 414,400 sq kms from the central Queensland coast as far west as the Northern Territory border. The community broker will work with Church Resources to provide 40,000 individuals with access to broadband and an additional 15,000 online services.
Maroochy Shire Council on behalf of the Sunshine Coast Regional Organisation of Councils
The community broker will work with the Maroochy Shire Council to support business and industry development in the Sunshine Coast region utilising the critical mass of the larger population areas on the coast to leverage infrastructure provision in the less populated hinterland.
Education institutions, local businesses in the region, community organisations and health service providers are expected to benefit from more affordable access to broadband services.
Wide Bay Burnett Regional Organisation of Councils
The Wide Bay Burnett project seeks to support business and industry development in the region, including the regional centres of Bundaberg, Hervey Bay and Maryborough, with the project utilising the critical mass of the major centres to leverage infrastructure provision in the smaller communities.
The community broker will be engaged by Wide Bay Burnett to investigate, assess and validate current and future potential demand for broadband services in the region. Community organisations, local businesses, education institutions and health and education service providers are all expected to benefit from better access to broadband services.
Western Australia
Mid West Division of General Practice, Western Australia
The Mid West Division of General Practice project aims to facilitate the implementation of a secure communications network for the Mid West regional community in rural and remote Western Australia, by promoting and coordinating the uptake of broadband services appropriate to the region’s profile.
The Mid West region covers an area of 375,000 sq kms and stretches from Jurien in the south to Onslow in the north and includes the shires of Carnamah, Morawa and Yalgoo. The population of the Mid West region is 65,000 and is serviced by 55 practising doctors and their staff together with more than 150 other health providers in the region. Access to broadband will improve communications within the health sector and other key stakeholders in the Mid West community.
Western Australian Local Government Association
The Western Australian Local Government Association project will cover the
Great Southern Country Zone across 51,789 sq kms and includes the shires of Broomehill, Gnowangerup, Jerramungup and Katanning. The broker will promote awareness of broadband, online services and the take up of broadband services in the community and across business and local government. The broker will also assist the region to build a business case for attracting and working with service providers in seeking innovative broadband solutions.
Wheatbelt Area Consultative Committee
The Wheatbelt Area Consultative Committee project will engage a broker for
12 months to educate the community on the benefits of broadband, aggregate demand and negotiate appropriate broadband solutions for communities in the Wheatbelt region.
66 townsites including Wongan Hills, Bindoon, Beverley, Toodyay, Pingelly, Corrigin, Jurien Bay and Lancelin are expected to be targeted by the broker.
The Wheatbelt region is made up of 170 communities across 154,051 sq kms with approximately 70 per cent of the region’s population living in close proximity to towns of less than 1,000 residents. The community broker will seek to increase the number of ADSL enabled exchanges and negotiate the deployment of wireless broadband solutions in the region.