Yahoo Finance Regional Aussies to benefit from $750 million broadband upgrade
The Government's announcement of a $750 million upgrade to the NBN fixed-wireless network for regional Australia is a welcome boost for the country’s remote communities.
Federal funding for the project will be an estimated $480 million, with NBN Co. tipping in $270 million from its own coffers to ensure more businesses and residents can access faster and more reliable broadband services.
Specific measures listed in the package include:
Extended fixed wireless to cover an additional 120,000 formerly satellite-only location IDs (LOCIDs) to fixed wireless
Faster fixed wireless wholesale speeds for the majority of premises - up to 250Mbps download speeds
Improve fixed wireless typical wholesale busy hour speeds to at least 50Mbps download speeds
Enhanced data limits and network performance on NBN Sky Muster, with 16 hours per day of unmetered data usage
Farmers, schools and tourism operators all to benefit
Yahoo Finance spoke to Cairns Chamber of Commerce president Enver Selita this week to gauge reaction to the news from one region likely to benefit: North Queensland.
“It’s a great announcement for small businesses and farming communities in our region, who will benefit from increased download speeds and a more stable internet connection,” Selita said.
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He went on to explain that farming communities in remote areas of North Queensland would be particularly pleased with the news, because many still relied on satellite internet services which were expensive and unreliable.
Schools in remote communities will also benefit, because part of the package includes a move to unmetered YouTube downloads, which is often used for educational purposes.
Another winner could be the the tourism industry - a significant part of the economy in North Queensland - which will be able to rely on faster connections that are crucial to satisfying a customer base used to such speeds in Australia’s bigger cities and overseas.
Rollout times the key issue
Despite the positive reaction, one issue Selita was keen to address was the timing of the roll-out for the initiative.
“While we welcome the new funding for regional broadband services, some of these services are estimated to take up to two years to implement," he said.
"We would love to see the rollout prioritised so the services can be accessed sooner.”
Selita is well positioned to see the benefits of faster internet connections in his region. In addition to his position with the Chamber of Commerce, he also runs a telecommunications business centre, which assists local businesses with internet-based solutions.
In his view, one of the biggest challenges for his region while the rollout takes place is the perception people from outside the region have of internet connectivity in the area.
“We often find the new arrivals to our region, or those who are here visiting, have a negative perception of the speed of our internet connections, compared to what they are used to interstate or overseas,” Selita said.
He believes this can have a negative effect, not just on tourism – research shows that visitors to a region may not return if their internet experience is poor – but also the wider business community, if customers can’t rely on reliable download access to utilise online services.
As a result, the quicker the regions can get access to the proposed upgrade in services, the sooner they can change these perceptions and grow their businesses.
Business fibre zone
An additional initiative that Selita was positive about for businesses in his region was NBN’s rollout of business fibre zones, which was announced last year.
As a purely NBN-funded initiative, this has seen the company create 304 zones across the country that will be offered business-grade fibre connection, as well as a range of wholesale discounts.
With up to 127 of these zones being in regional Australia – including Cairns & nearby Port Douglas – this program has already yielded significant benefits.
“When Cairns and Port Douglas were included in the business fibre zone program, it was a real game-changer for local businesses here,” said Selita.
The Government’s recent initiative will build on this program, meaning many more regional businesses and retail customers will benefit from enhanced broadband services.
However, given that these areas have to date been left behind in the internet revolution, the rollout of the services promised will be the real test as to whether the gap is narrowing for regional Australia.
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