NBN: Fibre for over 1,000 Australian cities and towns
Julia Gillard,Stephen Conroy
posted Friday, 30 July 2010
Federal Labor today released the network maps showing that every house, school and business in Australia will have access to high speed broadband under the National Broadband Network (NBN).
The NBN is about building a modern economy – without it, Australian businesses won’t be able to compete with those in Japan, Korea or Singapore.
The Government has extended NBN Co’s fibre coverage objective from 90 per cent to 93 per cent of homes, schools and businesses.
That means around 300,000 extra premises will receive optical fibre broadband – which is great news for towns and cities across Australia.
Only Federal Labor will deliver affordable high speed broadband to all Australians, regardless of where they live or work.
The NBN will offer speeds of 100 megabits per second – 100 times faster than many people experience today.
The Gillard Labor Government is moving forward with the technology of the future while Tony Abbott would condemn Australia to the dark ages, destroying jobs and condemning our young people to a chalk and talk education of the last century.
NBN will give students the best educational opportunities, provide access to affordable high-speed internet in the home and bring an end to frustrating delays when downloading information from the web.
The maps reveal the extension of optical fibre to 93 per cent of homes and businesses in more than 1,000 cities and towns across Australia by the end of the rollout, and how communities will be served by next generation wireless and satellite technologies under the NBN.
Today’s announcement confirms that NBN’s fibre coverage plans include places like Weipa, Tennant Creek, Port Augusta, Albany, Cooma, and Warrnambool – all of which will receive fibre broadband.
The NBN Implementation Study indicated that the extension of NBN Co’s fibre coverage objective can be accommodated within the recommended funding requirement which is provided for in the Budget.
The Gillard Labor Government is also announcing that NBN Co will deliver next generation wireless and satellite services with speeds of 12 megabits per second – with average data rates more than 20 times higher than most users experience today.
The maps provide an indicative representation of the fibre and wireless components of the NBN. The information in these maps is based on initial detailed modelling work done by NBN Co which may be subject to change following more detailed planning and design work.
Tony Abbott and the Liberal-National Coalition have said that if elected they will shut down the NBN.
This represents a risk to Australia’s economic future and for all those communities across the country, including in rural and regional Australia, which are crying out for better broadband after 12 years and 18 failed broadband plans from the former Coalition government.
To download National or State maps go to http://www.alp.org.au/agenda/nbn/.
Tags: Broadband, Economy, NBN