Senator the Hon Helen Coonan was Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts from 18 July 2004 to 3 December 2007. This site is available for archival purposes only.

Senator Stephen Conroy is the current Minister for the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

90/04
4 August 2005

Crescent Head and Lorne gain access to ADSL broadband

Crescent Head and Lorne in the federal electorate of Lyne will now be able to access ADSL broadband with the enablement of the local Telstra exchange and support from the Government’s Higher Bandwidth Incentive Scheme (HiBIS), the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, and Deputy Prime Minister, Mark Vaile, announced today.

“I congratulate the Crescent Head and Lorne communities for gaining access to ADSL, a significant development for businesses and individuals,” Senator Coonan said.

“Under the Australian Government’s $157.8 million Higher Bandwidth Incentive Scheme (HiBIS), Crescent Head and Lorne are just two of the many exchanges enabled across Australia .”

HiBIS offers financial incentives for Internet service providers to provide high speed broadband services in rural and regional areas at prices comparable with those available in metropolitan areas.

“The Scheme was designed to be technology neutral and in this case Telstra, as one of the 38 registered retail HiBIS providers, has used the incentive payments to enable the Crescent Head and Lorne exchanges with ADSL,” Senator Coonan said.

“Since HiBIS was launched in April 2004, the prices of broadband in regional areas are trending downwards,” Mr Vaile said.

“It has also encouraged a greater diversity of supply in the regional broadband market, with registered providers choosing to employ not only ADSL, but also wireless, cable and both one and two-way satellite technologies.”

“There has also been a strong consumer interest in the Scheme, with more than 36,000 HiBIS customers already connected to broadband services, Australia-wide,” Senator Coonan said.

“Last month, due to the success of the Scheme among both consumers and industry, I announced an additional $50 million in funding for the Scheme, taking the total amount of available funding from $107.8 million to $157.8 million.”

For further information on HiBIS, visit www.dcita.gov.au/hibis