|
|
|
Progress on equitable rural broadband services at last
20 Jul 2004
The registration of an internet service provider under the Commonwealth Government’s Higher Bandwidth Incentive Scheme is a positive sign for competition in rural telecommunications, the National Farmers’ Federation said today. It was announced today that Regional Broadband Services Pty Ltd has been appointed as the first Internet service provider to be registered under the $107.8M Higher Bandwidth Incentive Scheme (HiBIS).
HiBIS, which was announced in June 2003, resulted from the Government’s acceptance of all 39 recommendations of the Regional Telecommunications (Estens) Inquiry (RTI) held in late 2002.
NFF President, Mr Peter Corish said NFF had played a significant role in the RTI by highlighting a range of telecommunications service and service level inequities which continue to be of strategic importance to farmers and communities in rural and regional Australia. “Farmers and rural communities look forward to delivery of ‘metro-priced’ high-speed quality internet services under HiBIS and to the entry of other providers under the program,” Mr Corish said. “It is a positive sign for rural telecommunications competition to see a new national provider has passed the rigorous HiBIS standards and is the first to be formally registered by Government.
“NFF continues to press Government and others for the timely implementation of all 39 Regional Telecommunications Inquiry recommendations and for the Government to provide the required ‘future-proofing’ arrangements that will assist in making equitable telecommunications solutions a reality for rural Australia,” Mr Corish said.
NFF Press Release, 20th July, 2004
by Mairi Barton, General Manager Public Relations, NFF
| Previous Featured Articles:
|
|
