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| Labor's fibre-to-the-premises National Broadband Network scheme, promised to deliver to Kyneton and central Victoria within three years, will be the answer for rural homes, says Labor candidate for Bendigo, Lisa Chesters said. |
Rachel Wattie
The Federal Coalition's fibre-to-the-node broadband plan,
relying on a decaying copper network, has been branded inadequate.
Labor
candidate for Bendigo, Lisa Chesters, says Tony Abbott's scheme, which promises
to deliver earlier and cheaper broadband to Australia, is "like building the
Calder highway with dirt roads for off ramps", and Kyneton NBN Action leader,
Andrew Hedge, says the copper network is "not up to the task".
The
fibre-to-the-node plan has failed to address central Victorian residents'
problems with internet access, Ms Chesters said.
But Labor's
fibre-to-the-premises scheme, which is currently being rolled out, promising to
deliver to Kyneton and central Victoria within three years, will be the answer
for rural homes, Ms Chesters said.
"It means that more people can move into
Kyneton and central Victoria, and bring their small business with
them."
Kyneton residents would be able to 'telecommute' (work from home), or
from a local 'hotspot', rather than having to commute all the way to
Melbourne.
The Coalition's promised download speed of between 25 and 100
megabits per second by the end of 2016, and 50 to 100 megabits per second by
2019 is not fast enough, Ms Chesters said.
Labor's NBN, promising 100 meg
this year and 1000 meg next year, is essential for healthcare, business and
education opportunities.
"The future of our economy depends on homes and
businesses being able to connect to the world in a faster way," she
said.
"It's infrastructure for the future."
Kyneton NBN Action leader,
Andrew Hedge, said the most important thing people in Kyneton want is to feel
that they are on an equivalent service to people in the major
cities.
Kyneton's current internet connection, ADSL2+, doesn't get half the
top speed the technology should be able to get, he said.
"The copper is
clearly not up to the task."
Meanwhile, Kosmac & Clemens Optometrists'
senior optometrist Ed Kosmac, residing just eight kilometres out of Kyneton,
doesn't have a copper line at all for internet, and has to rely on mobile
broadband to access the internet - paying $59 for only 10 gigabytes per
month.
"That's pretty much the maximum we can get," Mr Kosmac said.
The 10
gigabytes usually only lasts about two weeks, he said.
"So we are constantly
going two weeks without internet."
"It certainly isn't adequate living on a
mobile broadband service."
What is the National Broadband Network?
- Labor is currently rolling out the National Broadband Network (NBN) to
Australia, promising construction will have started for 48855,500 homes and
businesses by June 30, 2016.
- Labor has recently expanded its plan to
include NBN availability to 4,900 homes and businesses in Castlemaine; 2,400 in
Kyneton; 2300 in Romsey and Lancefield; and 1,000 in Maldon by June 30,
2016.
- The NBN provides speeds up to 100 megabytes this year, and up to 1000
megabytes next year.
- NBN replaces the copper network, which wasn't
originally built with the internet in mind.
- With NBN, 93 per cent of
Australian homes and businesses will have access to broadband with speeds
reaching one gigabyte per second via fibre-to-the-premises scheme. The remaining
seven per cent will have access to broadband speeds up to 12 megabits per second
via fixed wireless and satellite technologies.
- Fibre-to-the-premises
delivers broadband to Australians via an optic fibre, which is a thin glass or
plastic strand that carries light along its length, and is capable of providing
faster speeds than copper or wireless technologies.
- There is an increasing
trend across countries such as Japan, South Korea, Denmark and Sweden to roll
out fibre-to-the-premises as the preferred technology.
- According to a
survey done by Australian-based marketing solutions provider, ExactTarget, 13 million
Australians spend over 18 hours a day online, suggesting the government's
investment into broadband services is appropriate.
