Local input sought

Ballarat East MP, Geoff Howard is deputy chair of the state parliament Rural and Regional Committee, which is now commencing an inquiry into best practice in e-business and remote working policy.

With the Federal Labor rollout of the National Broadband Network, regional Victoria, including Kyneton, Castlemaine and Romsey, is now becoming closer than ever to Melbourne and other sites across the world.

This means that the disadvantages presented by distance are now no longer so limiting to economic opportunities for regional communities and regional Victorians can have broader work options.

The state parliament Rural and Regional Committee is now commencing an Inquiry into best practice in e-business and remote working policy.

Ballarat East MP, Geoff Howard, is deputy chair of the committee. Mr Howard said that there's no doubt that teleworking is growing more popular across the world as economies change from traditional models to become more information based. 

"At present we have a significant number of people who commute to Melbourne for work daily," he said.

"Not only does this see much time and stress added to the working day of commuters but it adds to traffic congestion and costs governments more as the pressure to build more freeways and upgrade public transport to meet this demand.

"Governments in other countries, including USA and many European countries, have taken action to require government departments and private businesses to set targets for more staff to be able to work from home for one or more days per week.

"Workers from home often say they are more productive and have a better work-life balance. Also the potential benefits of getting cars off the roads and keeping people in rural and regional Victoria are enormous while the opportunity to attract more people to come and make that lifestyle move away from Melbourne.

"This Inquiry will look to determine the best way to ensure rural and regional Victoria is prepared for the opportunities provided by the broadband rollout."

Mr Howard said he believed that many people who presently commute or who already work from home would have useful insights to share regarding what government could do to promote increased telecommuting and e-business.

"Our committee is calling for submissions to the Inquiry and I would encourage anyone prepared to share their views to contact me or go to the committee's website to register their interest," he said.

"We are interested in hearing from experts who can provide advice and information on the inquiry's Terms of Reference. We are also interested in people in regional areas who have first-hand experience of teleworking or establishing their own e-business."

To view the full Terms of Reference and information on how to make a submission to the Inquiry, visit www.parliament.vic.gov.au/rrc or phone Geoff Howard on 5331 7722.

'Infrastructure for the future'

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.