Telstra has warned using National Broadband Network funding to provide alternatives to its own rural infrastructure may lead to increased costs and other problems.
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has called for tenders to build the $250 million backhaul telecommunications links, which target six regional centres in all states and territories except Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is shortly expected to announce during a trip to Darwin what areas of regional Australia will be targeted by the backhaul aspect of the government's National Broadband Network plans.
Part of the government's National Broadband Network plan, the $250 million injection to create new backhaul links in regional areas, could start construction by September this year.
Melbourne-based internet service provider Netspace today said it had switched on ADSL2+ broadband services in Tasmania, making it one of the first to do so in anticipation of the launch of the Basslink fibre-optic cable across the channel.
If the world's homes are to enjoy the same high speed connectivity as its offices, the current thinking goes, then fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) will soon become necessary. However, not all Internet economies were created equal.
The next-generation wireless technology could take us one step closer to the mobile nirvana of one bill for mobile, Wi-Fi and broadband connectivity.
Now that wireless is becoming technologically and financially competitive with its wired equivalents, the strongest argument of all to cut the cable is convenience. New standards in speed make wireless networking a valid choice.
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