Conroy throws another $100 million into Tasmanian NBN
- 01 March, 2010 12:32
- Comments 6
Minister for Broadband, Senator Stephen Conroy, has thrown a further $100 million into Tasmania’s National Broadband Network (NBN) as it prepares for a stage three rollout.
The first two stages are part of the Federal Government’s $43 billion broadband initiative and entailed extending optic fibre backbone to regional areas which have been deprived of high-speed Internet services. NBNco subsidiary, NBN Tasmania, teamed up with Aurora Energy for the implementation process.
Stage three will see Tasmania’s urban centres, Hobart, Launceston, Devonport and Burnie, receive fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) for increased Internet speeds. According to Senator Conroy, the implementation will reach out to 90,000 premises: 40,000 in Hobart, 30,000 in Launceston and 10,000 each of Burnie and Devonport.
In a statement, the Senator spruiked the benefits of the fibre network, claiming it will not only provide faster telecommunication capabilities but also better access to health services for families and better educational opportunities.
“It’s about creating and keeping jobs in Tasmania,” he said in the statement.
Details of further stages will be released in due course. The ultimate objective, according to Senator Conroy, is to connect 200,000 homes, business, schools and hospitals in Tasmania with 100Mbps broadband speeds.
Announced in July last year, stage one of the NBN rollout involved Smithton, Scottsdale and Midway Point. Stage two stretched the fibre to Sorell, Deloraine, George Town, St Helens, Triabunna, Kingston Beach and South Hobart.
US-based Corning Cable Systems was awarded the tender to provide optic fibre. The first NBN services in Tasmania are scheduled to be available from mid-2010.
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Comments
Morgan
Then he's going to happyslap it with his McCarthyism scare-mongering, cash-sinkhole Jesus filter.
Like giving an Olympic sprinter expensive shoes then chaining a boulder around their neck.
SLDR
$100m here another $100m there, pretty soon this will add up to real money
Jay
Why can't the NBN be rolled out nationally simultaneously? Or is this simply a case of very expensive Labor pork-barreling? Done the FTA tv, done Tasmania ... should be good for another election now?
Gazxzer
What's another $100 Million when you are spending $43 Billion? It's nice to know you will be able to get 100Mbps in Tasmania. I live 10 kms from a Metro area and can't even get ADSL.
Francis
@Jay asks, "Why can't the NBN be rolled out nationally simultaneously?"
KRudd tried this with ceiling insulation and cookie-cutter school buildings, with disastrous effects. Tradies need to be skilled up, and getting the process right in Tassie seems a good way to iron out some of the practical details.
Having said that, @Gazxzer is right in saying that the only reason this is a government project is to first target the unprofitable installations for the have-nots, including RIM-sufferers and urban fringe dwellers, as well as rural communities.
If the predominant early beneficiaries turn out to be well-serviced ADSL2 and cabled-up suburbs and CBDs, then the NBN vision will have been hijacked.
The NBN is first and foremost a black spot program of social equity infrastructure.
Derek
One nay sayer says $43 billion, too much????? The next says simultaneous rollout or its pork barelling!
Love the each way bet from the Telstra camp.
BTW - Franny my insulation is fine and it cost me nothing!
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