Arnhem Land gets $34m fibre roll-out

By Suzanne Tindal, ZDNet.com.au

19 September 2008 02:49 PM

Tags: northern territory, telstra, rio tinto alcan, government, broadband, fibre, land, project

Rio Tinto Alcan, the Northern Territory government and Telstra have decided to "broadband" Arnhem Land in the northern territory, laying 800km of fibre-optic cable.

(DSC_10231 image by ciamabue, CC2.0)

The project, worth $34 million, will link Jabiru and Nhulunbuy, connecting 10,000 people in indigenous communities and the township of Nhulunbuy to the country's fibre-optic backbone. Rio Tinto owns a bauxite mine and alumina refinery at Nhulunbuy care of its recent purchase of Alcan.

Northern Territory chief minster Paul Henderson said the Northern Territory Government had committed $6.8 million in funding for the project, which he said was already underway.

"People living [in] communities like Oenpelli, Maningrida, Nhulunbuy and Gapuwiyak may be off the beaten track but they will now be part of the communications superhighway," Henderson said.

He said it would allow those in the region to do online banking, video conferencing and booking, and would bring benefits for health and education.

"And more basically, it will help attract more professionals and other workers to remote communities as they will be able to communicate with the world in the same way as people in larger centres take for granted," he said.

Telstra group managing director public policy and communications, David Quilty, said the project couldn't have been achieved without money from the Territory Government and Rio Tinto Alcan.

"It's a huge project and one that covers some extremely difficult and fragile terrain. Telstra has been working closely with the NT Government, the Northern Land Council and other relevant authorities to ensure the impact of the fibre deployment on the surrounding area is minimised," Quilty said.

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Talkback 36 comments

Add your opinion

Do don't talk. Sydney Lawrence -- 19/09/08

Go Telstra. How good are we Aussies!

ROFL! Anonymous -- 20/09/08 (in reply to #320112290)

Go Sydney! How Good is the Telstra Ra Ra Squad!

Plastic Bags? Wakie -- 20/09/08 (in reply to #320112290)

The only money Telstra is committing will be for the plastic bags to patch up the fibre when they whinge about it being not feasible to keep the infrastructure well maintained.

Got any spare sticky tape Lawrie?

Shill-y Lawerence Anonymous -- 20/09/08 (in reply to #320112290)

"Telstra group managing director public policy and communications, David Quilty, said the project couldn't have been achieved without money from the Territory Government and Rio Tinto Alcan."

Telstra are being paid to install it Sydney. As Quilty said, it "couldn't have been achieved" if it was left to Telstra...

Barrier busters. Sydney Lawrence -- 20/09/08 (in reply to #320112319)

But it wouldn't have been achieved if it was left to anybody else. First leg of the NBN Anon.

@shilly and plastic bags Anonymous -- 20/09/08 (in reply to #320112319)

maybe us spoilt fools in the cities arguing over a few dollars here and there should ask those in arnhem land if this is a good idea. i'm sure they'd be happy that this group is doing *something*, unlike tthe others you all love so much, who are doing *nothing*. but don't let that stop you terria fellators from coming up for air and putting a downward spin on it. dont forget your wonder group terria cant even manage a plastic bag yet, but keep sucking, haha.

Arnhem Land gets $34m fibre roll-out lyle -- 20/09/08

don`t see any mention of all the other communities in arnhenland don`t they rate broadband yet ??? telstra is not helping unless someone else pays why not give money to someone else to put the fibre in so telstra monopoly in bush is not maintained rather help someone else provide some much needed competition

@arnhem Anonymous -- 20/09/08 (in reply to #320112332)

because lyle, even if telstras opposition are given the money they arent interested in maintenance. haha, you hate telstra, but the others hate you, you non money making hinderance you. wake up.

. Anonymous -- 10/11/08 (in reply to #320112365)

IS THIS WHAT THEY MEANT BY "CONNECTION TO THE LAND" ARE ALL THE WALLABIES AND PADEMELONS GOING TO BE ON THE PHONE TO THEIR RELLIES?.........

@ . /b/ -- 10/11/08 (in reply to #320115983)

You are uneducated and bigoted

Someone needs to take you out to the bush and but a few bullets into you, I'll even buy you the ticket to Indonesia!

Ridiculous Anonymous -- 20/09/08

This money could be better spent somewhere else. Most of the people living in Arnhem Land are illiterate and have/ will never have use for the Internet.

Gutless fool whitefella -- 25/09/08 (in reply to #320112341)

Maybe this will help them to educate themselves as the Australian Govts have failed them for generations. Your view demonstrates your ignorance, prejudice and vindictiveness. Maybe if you visited some of these communities you could at least address your ignorance.

Well done you Sitting in Coal Dust -- 20/09/08

Congatulations, a move in the right direction for them. I live in C.Qld which is a fantastic coal growth area, my ISDN is being withdrawn 30 Dec 2008, so its satellite (yuk) or back to dialup.
Wish someone could give Telstra some money for here,

But no ADSL for Point Cook NORMANDY -- 20/09/08 (in reply to #320112344)

Great, time to move up there, as suburbs of the west of Melbourne still cant get ANY ADSL thanks to Telstra's screw up!

@point Anonymous -- 20/09/08 (in reply to #320112349)

why not blame optus internode iinet too, ***khead.

Settle dear Lord Watchdog -- 23/09/08 (in reply to #320112361)

"why not blame optus internode iinet too, ***khead."

Because Telstra own the exchanges and the copper network.

@settle Anonymous -- 23/09/08 (in reply to #320112520)

which the others can access too, but no, not economical, so your point!

Lord, more like Fat Lard, Watchdog, more like **** FARQ YOU LORD -- 23/09/08 (in reply to #320112520)

This is a story about 950km of fibre cable across open and uninhabited plains, where the hell do you get exchanges and copper network from?

You are just proving how stupid you really are. Your brain must be scrambled by all those vintage radio's you play with.

Ever heard of the need to interconnect? Mel Sommersberg -- 14/10/08 (in reply to #320112572)

Apart from your bile you haven't said much, which is why my post is so small, none-the-less far more intelligent.

What are "vintage radio's [sic]"? Not only can't you respond to a debate without dragging your argument out of the gutter but you can't speak English either.

i know why they did this Anonymous -- 20/09/08

Im happy for the people who got connected. But lets face it, this was a policital stunt from telstra in the face of the NBN. thats all. If it wasnt for the NBN, telstra would not have lifted a finger.

@ i know Anonymous -- 20/09/08 (in reply to #320112354)

yeah then theyd be just like the rest of them doing ***k all, like optus, iinet, internode.

Real reason Andrew Leane -- 22/09/08 (in reply to #320112362)

No it wasnt, it was Rio Tinto wanting internet at its mine, that's what it was. Then they thought well if the line is going in well give it to the communities it runs past too.

Real reason Simon -- 25/09/08 (in reply to #320112450)

Sound spot on Andrew!

Hmm... Anonymous -- 20/09/08

I pose two questions:

1. Is fibre the best option for a region like this? To be it seems rather uneconomic. Why not microwave/WiMAX?

2. And Telstra complains about other companies latching onto the government for subsidies. Goes to show the amount of rhetoric they spit.

Hmmm.... Bob -- 21/09/08 (in reply to #320112367)

1. Nhulunbuy already has ADSL with backhaul via Microwave.

2. Telstra is the only telco that can leverage of existing fibre for part of the way (paid for by the taxpayer) to make it remotely economical even with this subsidy.

zzzz Anonymous -- 20/09/08

It couldnt have happened without the Government, nice one Telstra. I wonder how much blood Telstra had to squeeze out before they would do it? You can bet someone was screwed over.

Telstra cant be trusted! Tell us the Truth Telstra! -- 20/09/08

Tesltra screwing up the suburbs with RIMS and no ports proves that they cant be trusted with the FTN contact!

Who can't be trusted??? Now we are talking! -- 26/09/08 (in reply to #320112375)

Optus that can not even maintain a service that an entire state depends on? All of Qld completely failed recently due to the incompetence of the same engineers that will be used to design an Optus led NBN.

Love all these stupid comments My 2cents worth -- 21/09/08

1. Telstra was chosen by both these parties as the best company to supply the services, Rio for their own business operations and the government because there were regional centers that needed connectivity. If there was another company willing to do the work and that was better do you think they would still have used Telstra?

2. Without commitments from major parties like this no company would spend $34M without at least a knowledge they would get a couple of million in income from it each year. As someone wrote, using different wording, the people in Arnhem Land are currently struggling with proper eduction; this will help alleviate that.

3. Let's see how quick Droptus, iiNot, Intonone and the other cry baby companies are to run to the ACCC and demand wholesale access at giveaway rates. If these companies find a profit making excuse to get access they will run after it and they blame Telstra for being "too expensive" or "unfair" or "a big bad monopoly" or "blocking progress" or "fill in your own". Telstra was the only one who actually did something about that part of the country and it looks like all you people can do is complain. I am glad I am not at your houses at Christmas when you open your presents, all I would hear is whinging and whining.

4. For the long distances they are talking about fibre is the only way to go due to stability, latency and capacity. Suggesting microwave simply shows a lack of understanding and/or ignorance.

5. Backhaul maintenance groups actually provide much better service then metro area techs as there is only one service type (in this case SMOF) and they are well equipped to handle repairs. In metro areas the technician's can needs to be filled with parts for repairs on PSTN/ISDN/Frame Relay/DSL/fibre, different types of pits, lots of different types of pillars, rims and much much more. If they were to keep parts for everything they would be driving a semitrailer which is why they either use ad-hoc solutions to get things working immediately or leave it until they can go away and get the correct parts to do the repair. Simple choice, quick repair for now and less pressure to implement the correct repair procedure meaning they can service more people or keep people off the air longer while they drive around getting the correct parts.

Wake up you losers, you all seem to love to avoid the facts and think that you gain respect or support your causes by using stupid one liners.

naive Anonymous -- 21/09/08 (in reply to #320112408)

1. was telstra chosen, or were they the only option? this sort of thing should be looked after by a wholesale division, and services sold on the retail side.

2. yes. there are a lot of reasons it is prohibitive to start building this sort of connectivity. the physical buildings alone provide essential infrastructure that has been in place for a long time & funded by the taxpayer.

3. wholesale access is not at giveaway rates by any means, and the ACCC in put in place for us taxpayers to ensure some sort of competitive equal footing between uneven sized businesses. lots not forget the scandal where telstra sold retail ADSL for less than their wholesale ADSL prices.

4. not at all, microwave is currently being used now and does not exhibit these symptoms.

5. perhaps, but its costly. which was the point.

You seem to be doing a lot of whinging and whining for someone complaining about the whinging and whining.

I just cant feel sorry for telstra who only made $3.3 billion in 2006-07, but had tough times after that... only $3.8 billion.
Luckily for us they are firing a whole bunch of people so they can raise their profit margin again.

phew!

Typical TTTT & CCC rebuttal Another 2cents worth -- 22/09/08 (in reply to #320112434)

Well we could have guessed that these would have been the responses.

1. Open marketplace, any company could have offered this service, don't pretend otherwise. Wholesale or retail is not the issue with this point, the issue is the fact the work was done at all.

2. The old funded by taxpayer line (or is that lie?), when will this one die? Telstra paid back every cent spent by the government going all the way back to federation.

3. You raise one instance on a consumer product, the ACCC regulates all backhaul charges when there is under 3 competing links meaning Telstra doesn't even have a choice in negotiating on those routes. That is why many companies will not enter certain areas, they get a sweet deal courtesy of the CCC lackey the ACCC.

4. For the distance they are talking about microwave will not be suitable... learn to read you dope!

5. That was addressing the loser that commented on the plastic bag line.

and then you throw out the profit bit, why not complain about banks, mining companies etc? Telstra is less profitable then most of those companies based on market capitalisation so it is only justifiable they will look for ways of improving their efficiencies and bottom line after being run by a bunch of government stooges for so many years.

why not wireless Anonymous -- 21/09/08

why not just use wireless broadband? They probably already have NextG, they just need good backend and cheaper rates and NextG would be fine.

NextG Anonymous -- 25/09/08 (in reply to #320112411)

Of course they have nextg in Arnham Land, afterall, this is a big chunk of Australia and nextg has 98% coverage.

I haven't checked but.. Arthur -- 26/09/08 (in reply to #320112731)

it is 99% and that is of the population not the land mass. The land mass coverage is about 22%.

10,000 people = 0.05% of the population

10000 people, 900km of fibre Anonymous -- 21/09/08

Suggestions of running wireless will still require fibre to be run to the towers to be able to carry the signals with low enough latency to not impact on performance. There will be close to 900km of fibre and with that distance not even the record breaking next g network will provide coverage at that distance. I am sure that there would be next g coverage connected to the end of that fibre but there will also be additional services to cater including ADSL for some of those 10000 people who wish to have it and will be lose enough to the main centers.

Medical Sector Clay -- 22/09/08

The filbre-optic rollout will definately have a positive impact in the health sector. GP's with this new technology can now access priviliges such as secure messaging to specialists, online claiming and online banking. If only to benefit these centres, than it is definately a positive.