April 7 2009 - ATUG welcomes the Commonwealth Government's vision for Australia's game changing National Broadband Network. Click Here
New National Broadband Network
The Rudd Government today announced the establishment of a new company to build and operate a new super fast National Broadband Network. This new super fast National Broadband Network, built in partnership with private sector, will be the single largest nation building infrastucture project in Australian history. Click Here
National Broadband Network: 21st Century Broadband
The Government has announced it will establish a new company that will invest up to $43 billion over eight years to build and operate a National Broadband Network delivering superfast broadband to Australian homes and workplaces. Click Here
BuddeComm Analysis of National Broadband Network Announcement Australia
The Government’s plan sees us skipping the halfway house of so called ‘fibre to the node’ which would have seen street cabinets being installed around the country. The government will now bring the fibre network straight to people’s homes. Click Here
Consumers and businesses to benefit from telco industry reform
Consumers and businesses across the country should see significant and rapid improvements in prices and services for communications services the Competitive Carrier’s Coalition (CCC) said while welcoming the government’s plans for the future of communications in Australia. Click Here
Better broadband good for patients
A national broadband network would create new opportunities for Australians in rural and regional areas to benefit from medical services delivered using internet technology, the AMA said today. AMA Federal President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, said faster broadband would make it easier for doctors in rural and regional areas to consult with city colleagues when diagnosing and treating patients. Click Here
New Government-owned broadband company will maximise good jobs for Australian telco workers
The decision to create a new Government-owned company to build and operate the National Broadband Network is a great outcome for workers in the telecommunications industry, say unions. The new company will provide certainty of investment and quality jobs for decades, said ACTU Assistant Secretary Tim Lyons. Click Here
Macquarie Telecom says NBN package will revitalise local telecommunications sector
Macquarie Telecom welcomes the National Broadband Network (NBN) package announced this morning saying that, when implemented, it will revitalise the local telecommunications sector. Click Here
RUDD, CONROY, TAS, BARTLETT: Tasmania first to receive superfast broadband - Australian & Tasmanian Governments announced that Tasmania will be launch state for Commonwealth’s new super fast National Broadband Network Click Here
SENATOR CONROY: Liberals would drop Broadband Network in government - Liberal Party aims to condemn Australia as broadband backwater by dropping Government's historic National Broadband Network, should it win next election. Click Here
SENATOR CONROY: The Australian Government and the Tasmanian Government today announced that Tasmania will be the launch state for the Commonwealth’s new super fast National Broadband Network. This new National Broadband Network will begin rolling out in Tasmania as early as July 2009, before a full national roll-out in early 2010. The Tasmanian Government, in conjunction with Aurora Energy, will construct a fibre to the premise network which will deliver speeds of 100 Megabits per second, connecting over 200,000 Tasmanian households and businesses. Click Here
SENATOR CONROY: Rural and regional Australia will be big winners from the Rudd Government's National Broadband Network, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy said today. Click Here
SENATOR CONROY: Speech to CommsDay Summit, Swissotel, Sydney - Subjects: Communications Day, National Broadband Network, Communications Consumer Action Network. Click Here
SENATOR MINCHIN: Labor broadband to cost consumers at least $200 a month - major Telco CEO - Under most "optimistic case" broadband users will have to pay at least $200 a month to use Labor's $43 billion fibre to the premise broadband network. Click Here
SENATOR MINCHIN: Rudd must prove NBN expert panel advised Labor to spend $43 billion on fibre to the premise plan - Kevin Rudd must prove his claims that the NBN expert panel advised the Government to pursue a $43 billion fibre. Click Here
SENATOR MINCHIN: Conroy's contempt for taxpayers and The Senate - Described the decision by Senator Conroy to not publicly release the report of his NBN expert panel and also the report of the ACCC on regulatory issues as a display of utter contempt. Click Here
SENATOR MINCHIN: Labor broadband - no price or take-up projections, no credible costings, no idea - Confirmed that the Rudd Government's $43 billion broadband is little more than a 'back-of-the-envelope' job. Click Here
Optus welcomes the end of Telstra’s fixed line monopoly
Optus today welcomed the announcement by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Communications Minister Stephen Conroy that the Government will take a visionary, nation building step in undertaking its own build of a National Broadband Network (NBN) utilising Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) technology. “The Government’s new model has the potential to fundamentally change the competitive landscape and create a true level playing field. This is a very positive outcome for consumers and business right across the country. It will end Telstra’s monopoly control of the national communications network into Australian homes,” Mr Paul O’Sullivan, Optus Chief Executive said. Click Here
Telstra welcomes opportunity to engage Government on broadband rollout
Telstra today welcomed the Government’s announcement about its proposed $43 billion new national broadband network (NBN). Telstra Chairman Donald McGauchie said: “We look forward to having constructive discussions with the Government at the earliest opportunity. There is a lot to absorb in the Government’s announcement and we will consider every aspect in detail. Click Here
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION: National Broadband Network - ABC Managing Director Mark Scott welcomed the Government's announcement of plans to build a new national broadband network. Click Here
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION: National Broadband Network - ABC Managing Director Mark Scott welcomed the Government's announcement of plans to build a new national broadband network. Click Here
WARREN TRUSS, Leader of The Nationals and Shadow Minister for Regional Development: The fine print of the Rudd Government’s broadband announcement yesterday has revealed that more than 500,000 Australians living in towns of less than 1,000 people are specifically excluded from Labor’s fast broadband commitment. In all, 1033 towns and locations in every state and territory (see attached list) have been dumped in the too-hard basked by Labor. Click Here
WARREN TRUSS, Leader of The Nationals and Shadow Minister for Regional Development: Revealed: More than 1000 Australian towns to miss out on Labor's fast broadband - Fine print of Rudd Govt's broadband announcement has revealed that more than 500,000 Australians living in towns of less than 1,000 people are excluded. Click Here
SENATOR LUDLAM: No Senate Blank Cheque on Broadband - They won't be giving the Government a blank cheque in the Senate for its multibillion dollar broadband plan but will carefully scrutinise the proposal as more details become available. Click Here
Long battle ahead for broadband
The Federal Government faces an uphill task of winning the financial and political backing it needs for its new broadband plan. Click Here
Questions must be answered on regional telecommunications
“IN THE wake of the scrapping of the Federal Government’s National Broadband Network tender process today the Prime Minister has opted for Plan B – and the stakes for regional communities are now higher,” National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) President David Crombie said. Click Here
Broadband for Tasmania: Our ticket to a clean, green and clever jobs boom?
The Australian Greens today welcomed Tasmania's prime position in the national broadband roll-out, calling for it to signal the first step in a clean, green and clever jobs boom in Tasmania. "The roll-out of the new broadband network could be our ticket to a clean, green and clever jobs boom in Tasmania, if we seize the opportunity to shift our economic focus," said Australian Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Christine Milne. Click Here
AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP: Broadband Network: A Foundation For Productivity - With today’s National Broadband Network announcement, the first stages of the rollout can now commence and Australian businesses and households. Click Here
The ACS (Australian Computer Society), Australia’s peak body for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) professionals, today welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement regarding the construction and operation of the National Broadband Network (NBN) and called for the development of a national digital economy strategy as matter of urgency. Click Here
INSPIRE FOUNDATION: Leading Online Charity Applauds Broadband Decision - Welcomed the Federal Government's decision on the new National Broadband Network as a positive and farsighted decision. Click Here
SENATOR FIELDING: The Rudd government’s $43 billion broadband plan is an example of the government grasping at straws because its election policy announcement can’t be met. “The government has had all the experts tender for this broadband network and been told by a panel of experts that 18 months after beginning the process it has to start again. What a waste of time. “This is a government who continually reminds us of the global recession, a government that has splashed out with $900 cheques to thousands of Australians as part of its stimulus package but now wants private funding to help pay for an election promise. Click Here
FORREST: Broadband costs lose touch with reality - Rudd is sending Australia down the financial plug-hole with his plans to spend $43 billion on a brand new broadband network, according to John Forrest. Click Here
HARTSUYKER: Regional consumers to pay price for Kevin Rudd's broadband plan - Internet charges for regional consumers will more than double if the Rudd Government's dubious broadband plan eventually occurs. Click Here
Greens Will Scrutinise Broadband Network in Senate
The Australian Greens will be scrutinising the Government's plan for a National Broadband Network when it comes through the Senate later this year. Australian Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown said the National Broadband Network (NBN) was an important plank in building Australia's new green economy and had the potential to help the fight against climate change - but it must be achieved while protecting the environment and taxpayer funds. "The Greens have been advocating the Government go it alone on the NBN." Click Here
No Senate Blank Cheque on Broadband - Greens
The Australian Greens say they won't be giving the Government a blank cheque in the Senate for its multibillion dollar broadband plan but will carefully scrutinise the proposal as more details become available. "It is good to see the Minister coming on board with Greens demands for public ownership, but the existence of a potential trigger for privatisation is a real concern." "Given the magnitude of public spending, we will be looking at the details very carefully, before deciding whether or not to support it in the Senate," said the Greens Communications Spokesperson, Senator Scott Ludlam. Click Here
Two Million Australians Left Behind In Rudd's Broadband Plan
Labor's National Broadband Network plan has raised serious questions about functionality , coverage and funding, according to Member for Hinkler and Chair of the Opposition's Communications Policy Committee Paul Neville. Mr Neville said while the network plan had cherry-picked some of The Nationals' 2005 recommendations into future- proofing telecommunications services , it had failed to meet coverage requirements equivalent to the standard for fixed line and mobile telecommunications. Click Here
RUDD, CONROY, TAS, BARTLETT: Transcript - Joint Press Conference - Subjects: National Broadband Network Click Here
THE HON JULIA GILLARD: Transcript of interview on ABC Radio, AM Program - Subjects: Craig Thomson, National Broadband Network. Click Here
TREASURER WAYNE SWAN: Transcript of Interview with Mike Carlton & Sandy Aloisi, Radio 2UE, Sydney - Subjects: RBA Rate Cut/Banks, National Broadband Network. Click Here
OPPOSITION LEADER MALCOLM TURNBULL: Transcript of interview with Fran Kelly, ABC Radio National - Subjects: Broadband network announcement; interest rates; budget; China. Click Here
OPPOSITION LEADER MALCOLM TURNBULL: Transcript Interview - Kim Kleidon ABC Tropical North - Subjects - Jobs for Australia community forum ; meeting with the Mackay Regional Economic Development Corporation; Coalition 's alternative economic plan ; Rudd's broadband. Click Here
SENATOR CONROY: Transcript of radio Interview on ABC Radio 774 with Jon Faine - Subjects: National Broadband Network, Funding, Benefits, Telstra, Tasmania. Click Here
THE HON LINDSAY TANNER MP, MINISTER FOR FINANCE AND DEREGULATION – TRANSCRIPT with ABC Melbourne, Mornings with Jon Faine - National Broadband Network. Click Here
THE HON LINDSAY TANNER MP, MINISTER FOR FINANCE AND DEREGULATION – TRANSCRIPT of interview with 2UE Sydney Mornings with Steve Price - Future Fund, National Broadband Network. Click Here
THE HON LINDSAY TANNER MP, MINISTER FOR FINANCE AND DEREGULATION – TRANSCRIPT - 3AW Melbourne - Neil Mitchell - Subjects - Interest rate cuts, Banks, Broadband announcement. Click Here
SENATOR MITCH FIFIELD – TRANSCRIPT of Interview with David Speers & Bob mcmullin Sky News - AM Agenda - Subject: bank margins, illegal arrivals, broadband, Fiji. Click Here
Prime Minister RUDD’S BROADBAND GAMBLE
Today's National Broadband Network announcement acknowledges the complete failure of the Rudd Government's broadband strategy. The Rudd Labor Government has wasted 18 months and $20 million on a failed tender process that has not delivered a single new broadband service to a home and won’t for a long time yet. Click Here
The Nationals’ Broadband Network
The National Broadband Network is truly the Nationals’ Broadband Network as it has been lifted straight from the 2005 Page Research Centre’s position paper into telecommunications chaired by then Senator-elect Fiona Nash, Senator Barnaby Joyce, the Leader of the Nationals in the Senate, said today. Click Here
NBN Updates
EXPERT PANEL SUBMITS REPORT: Click Here
AXIA: Presentation to the Australian Senate Select Committee on the National Broadband Network - Art Price, CEO - Click Here
OVUM: Telstra & Government both face dilemmas- Click Here
TELSTRA:Commonwealth excludes Telstra from National Broadband Network RFP process - Click Here
CONROY:Telstra proposal excluded from further consideration under Government's NBN process - Click Here
ALGA: State of the Regions Report 2008-2009 - Broadband boost a long overdue must for Australia - Click Here
CONROY: Contenders deliver proposals for National Broadband Network - Click Here
TELSTRA: Statement by Telstra Chairman Donald G McGauchie AO - Click Here
CCC - Comment on NBN proposal from Telstra by Competitive Carriers Coalition - Click Here
AXIA: Axia Submits Australian NBN bid - Click Here
CCC Releases Yardstick for NBN Proposals - Click Here