Metropolitan Broadband Blackspots Programme
The Australian Government will commit $50 million over three years to helping people in metropolitan areas that are unable to access a broadband service, reap the benefits of faster Internet connections.
The funding was committed in the Coalition’s 2004 election policy statement Supporting Access to Broadband.
“The Metropolitan Broadband Blackspots Programme (MBBP) will offer Internet service providers financial assistance so they can offer affordable broadband services to customers in metropolitan areas who currently do not have access to broadband,” the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan said.
The Metropolitan Broadband Blackspots Programme will specifically target areas where problems with network infrastructure make it unlikely affordable broadband services will be made available commercially within an acceptable timeframe.
The programme will be similar to the Australian Government’s successful Higher Bandwidth Incentive Scheme (HiBIS), which had now assisted more than 400 communities in regional, rural and remote Australia to access broadband communications at a price comparable to metropolitan areas. Like HiBIS, the MBBP is expected to lead to significant investment in broadband infrastructure in the areas where it is most needed.
Both the MBBP and HiBIS are part of a coordinated approach by the Australian Government to providing better access to broadband through the National Broadband Strategy.
The MBBP will enable people who cannot access broadband in metropolitan Australia to take full advantage of broadband technologies to access fast, ‘always-on’, online access to digital content, applications and services.
The Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts will shortly release a discussion paper to outline the broad design of the programme.
This will give stakeholders an opportunity to provide feedback on how the programme will be designed and administered.
Broadband provider registration is expected to commence in the second half of 2005, with customers benefiting from the beginning of 2006.
Further information on how the programme will assist people in metropolitan broadband blackspots will be made available as the consultation process between Government, industry and other stakeholders progresses.
The annual funding allocations, including the cost for administering the programme, are $10 million in 2005–06, $20 million in 2006–07, and $20 million in 2007–08.
MEDIA CONTACT: Jane McMillan 0438 690 305