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Executive Summary
Broadband communications technologies can deliver substantial economic and social benefits to Australia. They reduce the constraint of distance and greatly increase the quality of communications in many sectors. Their defining characteristics (fast, always-on) enable a paradigm shift in the way people or resources (such as computers) interrelate. In short, broadband technologies can transform the way people live, work and do business.
This is being recognised across the industrialised world, making the development of broadband and wider national information infrastructures a key policy issue for many governments. In the words of United States Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell, "The widespread deployment of broadband infrastructure has become the central communications policy objective today."[1]
In March 2002, the Federal Government established a Broadband Advisory Group (BAG) to provide high-level advice on the development of the broadband market in Australia and to conduct a strategic review of broadband policy with a view to stimulating the availability and take-up of broadband. The BAG process has taken place alongside other inquiries into Australia's telecommunications market.
The focus of this report is primarily on sectors such as education, health, government services and, more generally, across rural and regional Australia, recognising the clear public interest case for Government action in these areas.
Government can also best affect those sectors of the broadband environment where it is a substantial participant or where private sector organisations may be reluctant to invest. As the first generation internet has shown, sectors such as health and education are proven pioneers in the creation and rollout of advanced networks.
The Broadband Advisory Group has made 19 recommendations to Government based on extensive consultations with all tiers of government and industry stakeholders.
[1] Powell, Michael - Digital Broadband Migration Part II, Press Conference, 23 October 2001 http://ftp.fcc.gov/Speeches/Powell/2001/spmkp109.txt