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Country left behind with broadbandVictoria’s Internet broadband program has utterly failed country communities, the Member for Eastern Victoria, Philip Davis, said today. By Kevin Balshaw - 13th October 2009 - Back to News Victoria’s Internet broadband program has utterly failed country communities, the Member for Eastern Victoria, Philip Davis, said today.
Mr Davis said despite the claims by the State Government and grand announcements such as its Broadband Framework, the Government was supporting only development of online services within state and local government and had abandoned its support for online access for country communities.
"The state’s half-hearted approach is shown in that its Broadband Framework was released back in early 2005 and has not subsequently been updated," he said.
"The ministerial foreword to the framework document says it aims to facilitate the delivery of telecommunications infrastructure, greater take-up of broadband services, increased competition in the broadband market and lower prices for households and businesses.
"Yet when it comes down to a question of responsibility, the document says barriers to the commercial supply of broadband in country areas presents a significant challenge for the Commonwealth."
Mr Davis said limited broadband services in country Victoria, including many parts of Gippsland and East Gippsland, imposed constraints on existing businesses and new business development, and left many students and households with second-rate access to online information and entertainment.
He said high-speed Internet service was as important to the economic and social life of communities as health, education, transport and welfare services. But with online communications, as with the more traditional public services, standards for country communities fell short of those of Melbourne and the major regional cities.
Mr Davis said the latest reliable broadband statistics, from an ACIL Tasman report prepared for Multimedia Victoria in February, 2007, showed 20% of households and businesses in the broader Gippsland region — 19,418 households and 3641 businesses — were without metropolitan standard broadband.
More extensive broadband coverage closer to Melbourne, however, boosts the overall regional figure. The report shows coverage in Wellington Shire is 72% and East Gippsland Shire ony 66%, and it acknowledges that "significant unmet demand still exists in East Gippsland".
In East Gippsland 5789 households and 1065 businesses are outside broadband reach, while in Wellington the same is the case for 4236 households and 859 businesses.
But Mr Davis said the position was even worse than the statistics depicted because metropolitan standard broadband coverage was taken to include wireless broadband, which in practice had proved to be far less reliable than a fixed line service.
"More distant communities will end up years behind the rest of the country in gaining full access to the communications revolution so long as the State Government remains all talk and no action on broadband and shifts responsibility for its rollout to the Commonwealth," he said.
Mr Davis said aside from information technology development aimed to improve communications within government, the only notable state initiative was the two-year Municipal Association of Victoria Broadband Innovation Program, launched in 2008 with a paltry allocation of $2 million.
The program was introduced to assist councils to deliver their own online services.
"There has been no reporting that I am aware of on progress with the program, which comes to an end next March, but it can hardly be expected to provide benefit to residents and businesses in areas that do not have broadband connections to make use of these services," Mr Davis said.
"The program typifies the State Government’s abrogation of responsibility in the provision of broadband to country areas.
"The Government should be far more active in this area in working with telecommunications providers to extend broadband to the large areas around the state that remain as blank spots.
"There is also scant evidence it has acted as an advocate to the Commonwealth for better services. It seems content to sit back and wait on the national broadband infrastructure project, which has only just got under way in Tasmania."
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: kevin.balshaw@parliament.vic.gov.au
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