Labor Communications spokesperson Stephen Conroy has restated the Opposition's commitment to a pan-Australian fibre-to-the-node network, while accusing the government of wasting taxpayers' money with a planned WiMax rollout
On the first official day of the federal election campaign, Labor has placed IT at the centre of its agenda for growth, issuing a challenge to the Coalition on broadband and procurement.
Regional authorities are begging the federal government to extend the scope of Australia's fibre-to-the-node network (FTTN), fearing remote areas will be left behind as high speed broadband spreads to metropolitan areas.
ALP communications spokesperson Stephen Conroy has said that if a Labor government is elected, it will mean a fresh start in the relationship between the government and Australia's telcos.
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.
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.
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).
I have seen the NBN, and it looks a lot like Christina Aguilera. Or, at least, it looked like her when I dropped into Ericsson's Melbourne headquarters recently to see a live demo of their NBN solutions. Yet behind the streaming TV, one question lingers -- and not even the government seems able to answer it.
One of the real dangers of election season -- for politicians, at least -- is being held to their word.
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.
NBN Company executive chairman Mike Quigley and six other board members to be named this week have a series of straightforward "buy or build" decisions to make about Australia's fibre future.
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.
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 Australian Labor Party's ICT shadow minister wants a national fibre broadband network and enough skilled people to exploit it.
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?
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