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ATUG 2008 Regional Conference
From the Desk of Managing Director
Rosemary Sinclair
ATUG's 6th Annual Conference on Regional Communications will be held in Canberra on 20-21 May 2008.
Since last year's conference there has been a change of Government, new Minister and new Department name all reflecting a new outlook on communications policy and the answers for regional end users.
New policy and funding decisions are now key to current discussions. With the major focus being the National Broadband Network policies and proposals.
Since ATUG 2007 Regional Conference, Local and State governments have
continued to work to define and develop their individual role and to
coordinate outcomes for end users far more effectively.
ATUG has been part of the journey for communications solutions for
Regional Australia - with our Regional Conferences and Regional Roadshows.
Starting with Demand Aggregation, HiBIS #1 and the efforts of local
communities and governments in working with providers to accelerate
and extend access to broadband. Then, with, the Telstra sale legislation
passing in 2005 we saw reconfirmation of basic protections -the Universal
Service Obligation, Customer Service Guarantee and National Reliability
Framework policies, and the introduction of the Telstra Local Presence
Plan and the Independent Regional Review process. T3 was also accompanied
by a significant increase in funding for services in regional areas.
Now the debate for Regional Australia has taken a significant turn
with the issues remaining alive and growing in importance.
All this adds up to make ATUG's 2008 Regional Conference timely and pertinent.
ATUG's 2008 Regional Conference will cover The Minister for Broadband,
Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy's, recent
announcement that the OPEL broadband network will not proceed.
In the framework of solutions for Regional Australia, the conference
will also cover Telstra's CDMA switch off, updates on WiMAX and 3G,
Australia's National Broadband Network, the new FTTN Expert Panel,
ADSL2+, policy and regulatory updates and most importantly case studies
from end users in regional Australia about the developments and needs
they are currently facing.
Join us in Canberra – May 2008
Last updated 7-Aug-2008