Broadb(r)and: High-Speed Takes Off Down Under

The Australian government announced last year that it would spend up to $38.9 billion to create a National Broadband Network. Its goal: revolutionizing the vast Australian continent and closing the digital divide for its farflung citizens.

“It’s time for us to bite the bullet on this,” Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said, calling the plan “a historic nation-building investment focused on Australia’s long-term national interest.”

A year later, the promise remains, and the government’s plans now include an open network similar to Google's proposed fiber network, but on a national scale. 

Rudd's government aims to give 90% of Aussies access to a high-speed fiber-based Internet network with 100 megabits/second by 2018. Telstra, the nationwide telco whose Big Pond broadband brand is the country's biggest, will face competition and have to considerably up the ante to remain on top.Continue reading...