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Yesterday's unveiling of an ambitious $43 billion AUD broadband plan set to be rolled out in Australia in the next eight years has drawn praise and condemnation in almost equal measure.
Photo: Fibre Optic. Credit: BigRiz/Wikipedia
The plan, announced by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, had been kept under wraps since January after the government decided that its original $4.7 billion AUD plan was inadequate, "would put Australia several years ahead of the US," in broadband technology according to Larry Smarr, one of the architects of the government's vision.
Rudd said in his address that the proposed network would deliver broadband some 100 times faster than that already experienced.
In a return to the old days of public ownership, the government will retain 51 percent of the scheme and has invited private ownership of the remaining 49 percent. An estimated 90 percent of Australian homes and businesses wil be covered by the new network, said the government, most via a fibre-to-the-node connection where an optical fibre is connected to a 'node' point in the street.
The scheme will begin in the island state of Tasmania and will be rolled out over eight years, the government has stated.
However, questions remain regarding the network with rural Australians unsure if they too will be covered. The Opposition has also criticised the scheme's cost, and has pressured the government to reveal the true consumers outlay, which they say will increase the overall cost of broadband access.
Speaking to ABC's News Breakfast program, Opposition Senator Nick Minchin said:
"We've got a $43 billion plan with no business case attached to it, no evidence that people actually want 100 megabits per second of download speed... to warrant a $43 billion investment."
Critics have also questioned whether the $43 billion AUD estimated cost would blow out if the government was forced to take on more than its quoted 51 percent, perhaps due to lack of interest from the private sector.
However, Treasurer Wayne Swan has said he is confident the sector will back the technology.
"The government is going to take the lead but we believe this will be a very attractive investment for a lot of companies out there in the private sector," Swan told Fairfax Radio Network on Wednesday.
"We believe, in taking the lead, many companies out there will be willing to invest, (we're) very confident that many companies will come to the party, particularly with equity."
The government will sell bonds to pay for its 51 percent stake.
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