Australian Government seeks proposals to build a national broadband network
Today, the Australian Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy, announced the release of a request for proposals to roll-out and operate a national broadband network.
The network represents the centrepiece of the Government's pre-election commitments in the communications sector. The Government has committed up to $4.7 billion of public funding, and will consider any regulatory changes necessary to facilitate the network roll-out. It is expected that the network will be rolled out over the course of the next 5 years, using fibre-to-the-node or fibre-to-the-premises technology. The network is expected to be 'open access', with access terms and conditions to be a key part of proposal assessment.
The Government has appointed a panel of expert advisers to assess proposals, and the panel is expected to report to the Government towards the end of 2008 as to a preferred tenderer.
A team from Frontier Australia and Frontier Europe will be advising the Department and expert panel on the economic and regulatory issues associated with the tender process.
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