The Labor government has kept quiet about the previous administration's Australian Broadband Guarantee as it prepares to axe the initiative in order to concentrate on the national FTTN rollout, according to Shadow Communications spokesperson, Bruce Billson.
The Liberals have accused the Labor government of "breaking another election promise" after Senator Kim Carr was unable to confirm that high-speed broadband access will be made available to schools in time to accompany government's planned one-PC-per-desk rollout for high school students.
Opposition Communications spokesperson Bruce Billson has said the Coalition will attempt to block the Federal government's proposed use of the AU$2 billion Communications Fund to build its national FTTN network in the Senate.
Bruce Billson, the Liberal communications spokesperson, has taken aim at Labor's plans to draw on money from the previous government's communications fund to build its fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) network.
In preparation for its fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) rollout, the Federal Labor government is resuming its campaign to change legislation to allow it to access the AU$2 billion regional and rural Communications Fund, which the government claims is needed to bankroll part of the network's construction.
As expected, Senator Stephen Conroy -- who made a career out of picking holes in the actions of his predecessor Helen Coonan -- was named to Kevin Rudd's front bench, bearing the interesting new title of Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (BCDE).
Say what you will about Senator Stephen Conroy, but he is clearly not a man afraid of confrontation. Well, he'd better not be, because by killing off the OPEL WiMax project he has just set himself up for a battle with Telstra of Biblical proportions or a big meal of crow washed down with a $4.7 billion gift to SingTel Optus.
If there ever were concrete evidence that Labor is blowing smoke up the proverbials of the Australian population, it came earlier this month as Senator Stephen Conroy, the man charged with promoting Labor's fibre-everywhere policy while simultaneously taking potshots at his counterpart Senator Helen Coonan, put his foot squarely in his mouth.
As Rudd and Conroy railroad the NBN into reality, the Liberals are trying to inject some due process into the whole thing by holding Labor accountable for its decisions. However, with the future of Australian telecoms on the line and no real viable alternative, is it just a bit late for accountability?
Much has been made of Telstra's decision to finally stop holding Australia to ransom, and to actually turn on the ADSL2+ equipment it has installed in what is apparently over 900 of its exchanges around the country.
An analysis by representatives of Australia's two largest IT industry groups shows that neither political party in the federal election has come up with a comprehensive policy around technology.
The biggest loser in this week's budget was broadband -- not one cent was allocated to improve infrastructure works. However, security was the winner with funding confirmed to fight intellectual property crime and cyber-terrorist attacks.
Ahead of the election, with promises for nationwide broadband networks and digital revolutions in schools, the ICT industry could hope the government was on their side. But now the glamour of a sparkling new government has worn off, how ICT-friendly is the Rudd government really?
The Australian Labor Party's ICT shadow minister wants a national fibre broadband network and enough skilled people to exploit it.
Thirty or so years since the birth of the Internet, we seem to be at a technological standstill when it comes to access speeds and bandwidth. If it is meant to be a superhighway, why does it feel like a back road?
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