Telstra and the federal government have joined forces to help Australians make a smooth transition online, allocating AU$50 million over three years to the scheme.
The government also announced plans to fund expanded mobile phone coverage and to establish the National Communications Fund for regional and education projects, in response to the Besley Inquiry.
Telstra says where no permanent service can be made in rural and regional areas sooner than 30 working days, it will offer an interim telephony service to customers, for up to 260 working days or longer if the customer agrees.
The interim service will also apply where a fault cannot be repaired within five working days.
Under the Internet Assistance Program, residential and small business users on Telstra's network will have access to a range of help services and be assisted in achieving an Internet service speed equivalent to at least 19.2 kilobits per second.
"The [Besley] Inquiry report stated that Internet performance depends on factors such as computer and user modem set-up, interference encountered, Internet service provider facilities and the standard telephone network," Telstra Country Wide Group managing director, Doug Campbell said.
"There is a small group of users who are not achieving reasonable Internet performance. For the first time we'll have a dedicated program to tackle the issues and help these users achieve reasonable email and Web browsing performance."
Users of the program will be able to access a 'self help' kit online and a help-desk will be established to assist users with changes to the configuration and environment of their computer, modem or other equipment.
Under the program, a 'technical support service' will be set up to provide Internet users with access to Telstra technical assistance and Internet testing services to achieve the equivalent of a 19.2 kbps line speed.
Telstra will contribute up to AU$38 million and the Federal Government AU$12 million to the program, which will commence operations from July 1, with the aim of providing services to all regional users by September 1 and to all metropolitan users by March 1, 2002.
"Country people expect reliable and affordable Internet services. This new service means that consumers and small business anywhere can get help to go online successfully," Campbell said.
