The broadband investment was a “nation-building” project critical to Australia’s future prosperity, an area of economic development the Howard government had neglected, the opposition leader said.
“We believe this is a critical step when it comes to Australia’s long-term economic future,” Mr Rudd said.
“There’s been inaction, inaction big time when it comes to the development of an effective national broadband national network to meet the future demands of the Australian economy.”
“This is a gaping hole in the Government’s economic performance to date. It is retarding the development of Australian business, in particular small business into the future and we look forward to taking this proposal forward,” he said.
The Fibre to the Node (FTTN) roll-out would deliver minimum broadband speeds of 12Mbps – about 40 times faster than current average broadband speeds – to 98 per cent of the population, Mr Rudd said.
The remaining two per cent of the population, in mainly in regional and remote areas, would have their broadband much improved under the funding scheme, but using technologies more economically suited to the covering vast geographies.
Labor said it would fund the initiative by drawing down money from the $2 billion Communications Fund, as well as taking money from the Future Fund – both in the form of Telstra dividends, as well as through proceeds from the further sell-down of government’s remaining 17 per cent in Telstra.
Mr Rudd said the broadband investment was fundamental to infrastructure Labor plans to boost flagging productivity growth as a means of building prosperity beyond the mining boom.
It also underpins education investments Labor has already announced.
Labor Communications spokesman Stephen Conroy said the investment government commits to the project would be into joint-venture infrastructure with the private sector.
The “open access network” would act as a wholesaler, providing the telecommunications pipe on a commercial basis so that any company could use the network to deliver services to Australians, Senator Conroy said.
The open access arrangement was “the key to stimulating productivity, stimulating economic growth, stimulating provision of services to school kids, to small businesses, to macro economic settings,” Senator Conroy said.
Communications Minister Helen Coonan pilloried the Labor broadband plan, calling it nothing more than a “reheated Beazley proposal” and rob Australian’s financial future.
“This is text book Labor and a very clear signal that if elected, they will spend the Future Fund and send Australia back into recession,”
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