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Photo of Senator Stephen Conroy

Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy

 

Enhanced guarantee for remote areas broadband

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, today released new program guidelines to enhance the Australian Broadband Guarantee.

“There has been strong interest from industry and consumers in the new Australian Broadband Guarantee and many constructive suggestions have been addressed in the new guidelines to further improve the program,” Senator Conroy said.

Program changes include:

  • Up-front payments for large infrastructure deployments.
  • Greater flexibility in subsidy levels.
  • Improved consumer protections.
  • A higher level of broadband service.

“The Rudd Government has allocated $270.7 million for the next phase of the Australian Broadband Guarantee and these new guidelines will ensure that the investment delivers maximum benefit for both providers and consumers,” Senator Conroy said.

“For Internet Service Providers, these guidelines will provide certainty in the development of whole-of-region broadband solutions in the more remote regional areas that may not be reached by National Broadband Network.”

“Consumers will benefit through the implementation of standard contract clauses, new requirements for repair and maintenance and a requirement to either shape excess data or charge no more than five cents per megabyte beyond the data cap,” Senator Conroy said.

The Australian Broadband Guarantee provides a safety net for Australians, particularly those in rural and regional Australia , who currently cannot access metro-comparable broadband services, while the Government implements longer term solutions to improve access to broadband services available for all Australians.

The new program will begin on Monday, 4 August 2008.

For more information about the Australian Broadband Guarantee program visit www.dbcde.gov.au/abg or call freecall 1800 883 488 weekdays between 8.30 am and 5.00 pm (AEST).

Date: 1 July 2008
Contact: Tim Marshall 0408 258 457