6th August 2014
Response to NORTHERN DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT, 27-28 JUNE 2014
A CONCRETE IDEA TO MAINTAIN MOMENTUM
A proposal which is cost neutral and entirely consistent with current government
policy and supports the Green Paper for the development of northern Australia
regarding low or no cost options.
This proposal is for the early and complete roll out of High Speed Broadband to the
whole of northern Australia
Quality communications are essential for development and society anywhere.
In northern Australia where geography is vast and population is small and
fragmented, quality communications are even more essential.
In northern Australia physical communications will always be expensive to provide.
However the same cannot be said for digital communications.
Across northern Australia access to digital communications has historically been
vastly inferior and more expensive when compared to those enjoyed by the great
majority of Australians and have been a prominent reason for northern Australia
being slow to develop, limiting growth.
However under the NBN system, Fibre, Fixed-Wireless and Satellite fast broadband
telecommunications are now becoming realistically accessible.
Digital communications essentially underpin and enable whatever initiatives may be
adopted to accelerate northern development.
High Speed Broadband is essential to provide quality digital communications.
Delivery of high quality: voice, picture, data and information necessary to ameliorate
the inherent disadvantage of remoteness and low population density enhances social
and business connectivity and solutions.
www.broadbandforthetropics.com
As at today, a snapshot of the roll out of the NBN system in northern Australia would
reveal fibre-connected premises in much of Townsville, the CBD’s of Mackay and
Cairns, as well as many new residential developments. Enhancing this are large
tracts of rural and semi-rural (coastal) regions actively served by NBN fixed-wireless
broadband services, including those surrounding many of the larger regional centres
(See attached images in Appendix One).
The new long term satellite service commissioned for the NBN will be in place by late
2015, thus providing an acceptable level of broadband capacity to all parts of
northern Australia not serviced by Fibre or Fixed-Wireless NBN.
But there are important holes to be filled!
It can be seen that the NBN roll out in northern Australia is well advanced. However
there are glaring holes and inconsistencies in the roll out which must be filled to
enable the (equitable) future development of the north. One critical example is the
Garbutt/ Bohle industrial area of Townsville which is not included in current
planning. This area provides essential services to transport, manufacturing, mining
and agriculture throughout northern Australia. There are similar shortcomings in
other key northern cities such as Mackay, Cairns and Darwin.
Conclusion
A simple decision by the Commonwealth to prioritise the roll out of appropriate NBN
technologies to all of Northern Australia will underpin all proposals for the
development of the north and will considerably improve the attractiveness of the
north for existing and future residents and businesses.
We would be happy to discuss these and other realities regarding broadband access
across northern Australia.
Your sincerely,
Geoff Plante
www.broadbandforthetropics.com
Please note: In the images that follow in Appendix One, the following definitions apply (as
per NBNCo’s website:
•
Light Brown areas with ill-defined edges = Fixed-Wireless under construction
•
Dark Brown areas with well-defined edges = Fixed-line under construction
•
Dark Green areas with well-defined edges = Fixed-line to begin construction.
•
Light Purple areas with ill-defined edges = active NBN Fixed-Wireless
•
Dark Purple areas with well-defined edges = active NBN Fixed-line
Appendix One - Current NBN rollout maps of North-Eastern Australia (N to S).
Port Douglas and Mt Molloy
Cairns
Gordonvale - Southern Cairns
Mareeba - Atherton Tablelands
www.broadbandforthetropics.com
Atherton - Atherton Tablelands
Ingham
Greater Townsville - North
Greater Townsville – South
Bowen to Proserpine
Proserpine - South
www.broadbandforthetropics.com
Greater Mackay - North
Greater Mackay - South
www.broadbandforthetropics.com