http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/04/aussies-announc.html
The Australian government announced plans Tuesday to bring the future to the Land Down Under by spending up to $31 billion ($43 billion AUS) over eight years to create a nationwide fiber optic and wireless broadband network.
Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd promises that the "new super fast National Broadband Network" will stimulate Australia's ailing economy and bring broadband to every Australian home, school and business.
"This historic nation-building investment will help transform the Australian economy and create the jobs and businesses of the 21st century," the Rudd government said in a press release.
The government will create a new company that will accept investment from outside companies but will be majority-owned by the government.
Australia had been soliciting bids for private companies to build out the network, but canceled that with this announcement, saying none of the bids offered value for the money.
The plan envisions a newly formed company laying 100mbps fiber optic cable to 90 percent of homes and schools, and getting 12 Mbps wireless access to those who live in rural and remote Australia. The build-out will employ at least 25,000 workers a year and up to 37,000 at its peak.
The newly formed company will then lease the lines and bandwidth to ISPs which will manage subscriptions.
"The new investment is also the biggest reform in telecommunications in two decades because it delivers separation between the infrastructure provider and retail service providers," the government announced. "This means better and fairer infrastructure access for service providers, greater retail competition, and better services for families and businesses."
The government says it will begin selling off its majority stake in the company five years after the network has been built, dependent on security concerns.
The new plan may get resistance from civil liberty advocates, as the Australian government is also pushing a plan to require ISPs to use an internet censorship list created by a secretive government bureaucracy.
By contrast, U.S. broadband infrastructure owners are no longer required to lease their infrastructure to ISPs at competitive rates.
The U.S. plans to spend $7.2 billion in stimulus funds to bring broadband to rural America, while the FCC has a year to come up with a broadband plan for the country.
