054/05
17 May 2005

Collaboration and innovation produce new Indigenous telecommunications services

Two hundred community ‘robust’ phones will be installed in remote Indigenous communities as a result of a $3 million Community Phones Program announced today by the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, during an address to the Indigenous Telecommunications Forum in Alice Springs.

Prepaid products for call payments and home phone access will also be made available to remote Indigenous communities under the program.

“The Community Phones Program will commence immediately, with trials of new technologies and services in targeted remote communities that have few or no public phone facilities,” Senator Coonan said.

“Community phones are shared phones – like payphones – and will be installed in a newly designed, robust and weather resistant steel casing. The advantage it has over normal payphones is that the community phone number can be listed in directories and it can receive incoming calls.

“Remote Indigenous communities will also be able to access a new prepaid phone card called the ‘Country Calling Card’ and a new service for home connections called the ‘Country Calling Line’.

“These services are designed specifically to help people in remote Indigenous communities get connected and stay connected while managing costs.

“Importantly, the Government has engaged ‘Regional Agents’ to take on the critical task of informing communities about these new services and to assist in the process of choosing and installing them.

“The Regional Agents are Indigenous organisations experienced in liaison between remote communities, government agencies and service suppliers.”

The Community Phones Program is an important element of the Australian Government’s $8.3 million Telecommunications Action Plan for Remote Indigenous Communities (TAPRIC).

“There are complex logistical and social factors affecting the supply of basic telephone services in the more than 1200 remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia,” Senator Coonan said.

“TAPRIC is the cornerstone of the Government’s efforts to deliver telecommunications services to these communities.”

The Australian Government has already committed $2.7 million specifically to the CPP and Telstra will contribute $1 million. A further $3 million was committed in the 2005–06 Budget to support the CPP beyond the current trial period.

The CPP trials involve five key initiatives:

• The provision of a community phone to eligible remote Indigenous communities.
• The development of new prepaid products by Telstra including the Country Calling Line (with a simplified system for paying accounts via deductions from Centrelink payments) and the Country Calling Card that offers discounted call charges compared to other prepaid cards.
• The further deployment of CDMA Wireless Local Loop technology by Telstra to trial more cost-effective solutions to providing services where there is no existing fixed network infrastructure.
• The engagement of Regional Agents to promote awareness and take-up of the Community Phones Offer among Indigenous communities in the Kununurra, Broome, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs/Apatula and Tiwi Islands regions.
• The Centre for Appropriate Technology in Alice Springs, in conjunction with Telstra, has developed a robust phone casing, designed for minimal maintenance in extreme conditions. Telstra will install the casing in 20 remote communities for an initial three month trial.

“The CPP trials are an important part of the Government’s $181 million response to the Regional Telecommunications Inquiry,” Senator Coonan said.

“The continuation of the trial will provide valuable insights into how government and industry can better meet the telecommunications needs of Indigenous communities.”

Media Contact: Jane McMillan 0438 690 305