[LINK] Australia shows US how a real broadband strategy works !!!!

[Kim Holburn]

A good review of the broadband policy?

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080702-australia-shows-us-how-a-real-broadband-strategy-works.html
link
http://tinyurl.com/4ll5on

> Australia shows US how a real broadband strategy works
>
> By Nate Anderson | Published: July 02, 2008 - 01:45PM CT
>
> Australia's government has launched an ambitious effort to build a  
> new fiber-to-the-node national network that will provide at least  
> 12Mbps connections to 98 percent of Australia's population. The two  
> percent who won't have access will be covered under a program called  
> the "Australian Broadband Guarantee" that provides funds to ISPs  
> working in underserved areas. (Note to US regulators: this is what's  
> known as a "national broadband strategy.")
>
> The national government plans to spend up to AUS$4.7 billion on the  
> project, which certainly isn't enough to fund the network. The money  
> is intended more as an incentive; the network will be built and  
> operated by a private company that will invest substantial capital  
> of its own, but the government stake is intended to 1) make sure  
> that a national fiber network gets built, 2) that it reaches almost  
> everyone, and 3) that it functions in the public interest.
>
> This could go wrong in plenty of ways, of course. The company that  
> wins the bid will certainly lean on regulators to let it operate  
> with few regulations and open access rules, something already  
> visible in incumbent telco Telstra's submission to the government  
> (PDF).
>
> Telstra wants to build the network, but it also wants the government  
> to ease up on the open access rules that could force the operator to  
> separate its wholesale and retail businesses; there might not be  
> enough return on investment, otherwise. The Competitive Carriers'  
> Coalition, which represents the small ISPs which need wholesale  
> access to the new network, calls Telstra's proposal "obscene" (PDF)  
> when it will be funded in part with taxes.
>
> In fact, says the group, the money doesn't really matter. What's  
> important is the network rules, since it's unlikely that a second,  
> competitive national broadband network will be built in the near  
> future.


.....


--
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
Ph: +39 06 855 4294  M: +39 3494957443
mailto:kim at holburn.net  aim://kimholburn
skype://kholburn - PGP Public Key on request