Digital Tasmania
Launceston, TAS, 7 April 2009 – Digital Tasmania today congratulated the Tasmanian Government on their initiative in submitting a proposal for the Federal Government’s National Broadband Network (NBN).

THE Federal Government today (Tues) confirmed they would fast track negotiation with the State Government around adapting their Tasmanian NBN submission within the next 24 hours.

Andrew Connor, spokesperson for Digital Tasmania said that the NBN expert panel’s identification of the Tasmanian proposal as being worthy of fast-track Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) deployment would put Tasmania at the forefront of broadband in Australia.

“Not only will this NBN raise Australia’s standing in the international digital economy, but at the state level, it will raise Tasmanians from being the poor cousins to the top of the broadband pile.”

“Obviously there’s quite a lot of detail that we still need to get across, but broadly we’re very supportive of the plan.”

“Full credit must go to the current Tasmanian Government for the initiative shown in lodging a proposal. It was a bold move, and it appears set to deliver tremendous dividends for every Tasmanian business and consumer who relies on high speed broadband access. We look forward to more detail from the State Government as to their plans and a timeline for deployment.”

“Digital Tasmania recognises the significant effort made by the Tasmanian Government not only with its proposal but also with the TasCOLT FTTP trial and the work done by the TECC. This has contributed to Tasmanian’s proposal being a model for the nation.”

Mr Connor said the project had the potential to transform the IT industry in the state and proves Tasmania has the skills, technology and determination to construct a nation-leading network

“As the first place in which the NBN is to be rolled out, Tasmanians in the telecommunications industry stand to gain significant expertise in deployment of FTTP networks in Australia. There is a tremendous opportunity also for Tasmania in training and re-skilling people for the estimated 37,000 jobs this network rollout will create.”

“Finally, the arrival of affordable high speed internet access to our local software and multimedia businesses will allow them to further compete on an international stage.”

Digital Tasmania said that in any plan there was always some room for improvement, identifying the reach of FTTP deployments as one concern.

“We’re disappointed with the national target of 90% for FTTP and would sincerely hope that is treated as a minimum here. Otherwise, we’re looking at 50,000 Tasmanians who will be unable to access 100Mbps broadband speeds, which is not an insignificant amount.”

“We recognise that there is a commercial reality involved in this process, however every effort should be made to deliver equitable access to those Tasmanians who might otherwise be left out.”

Digital Tasmania also welcomed the recent announcement of Internode as the first internet service provider to sign on to use the Basslink fibre optic cable, with activation now expected in mid May 2009.
“It’s been an exciting few weeks for the IT industry in Tasmania and we hope the positive news keeps coming.”

About Digital Tasmania: Digital Tasmania is a consumer action group, created to give a voice to the views and needs of Tasmanian consumers in the digital age. More information can be found on the group’s website, http://www.digitaltasmania.org

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Christine Milne
Broadband for Tasmania: Our ticket to a clean, green and clever jobs boom?

Devonport, Tuesday 7 April 2009

The Australian Greens today welcomed Tasmania’s prime position in the national broadband roll-out, calling for it to signal the first step in a clean, green and clever jobs boom in Tasmania.

“The roll-out of the new broadband network could be our ticket to a clean, green and clever jobs boom in Tasmania, if we seize the opportunity to shift our economic focus,” said Australian Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Christine Milne.

“Tasmania has so much to gain from getting connected to high speed broadband! The enormous jobs potential could reinvigorate Tasmanian communities devastated by years of the short-sighted resource obsession which is now coming crashing down with the global financial meltdown.

“High speed broadband can give Tasmanians, even in remote regional communities, access to high quality employment and education opportunities that are simply out of reach now.

“We recognise that broadband alone will not bring prosperity. It must be accompanied by similar investments in zero carbon energy, public transport and the restoration of the Tasmanian environment.

“If Tasmania seizes the opportunity to roll-out an intelligent electricity grid with the broadband network, we could really see our State in prime position for becoming the carbon neutral powerhouse it could so easily be.”

Senator Milne recalled that the last push for an IT economy in Tasmania – when the Greens were in balance of power with the Rundle Government in 1996 – fell foul of the election of the majority Bacon Government in 1998, which returned Tasmania to the resource based economy.

“In 1998, Tony Rundle, in balance of power with the Greens, was the first Tasmanian Premier ever to admit that Tasmania’s future did not lie in resource extraction.

“The tragedy is that the Bacon Government chose to return Tasmania to its jobs-poor, resource-extracting history, and actively delayed the blossoming of a clean green future based on protecting the environment, developing high-quality niche markets for food and beverages, and unleashing the creative potential inherent in a knowledge-based economy.

“While we strongly support a broadband roll-out as a vital plank in a green economy, the Greens will nevertheless scrutinise this project thoroughly in the Senate to ensure that it is environmentally, socially and economically sensitive.”

Senator Milne is in Devonport today for hearings of the Resource Planning and Development Commission at the Devonport Council Chambers

http://www.christinemilne.org.au/| www.GreensMPs.org.au