Australia Introduces Legislation for Fiber Access in New Homes
Australia introduced legislation for new home developments to ensure buildings are able to deliver high-speed Internet services.
The bills would allow the government to specify which developments must be equipped with optical fiber and which need to be capable of installing it, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said in an e-mailed statement today.
The proposed law comes as the government begins construction of a A$43 billion ($40 billion) high-speed fiber network known as NBN Co., which it plans to roll out nationally over the next eight years.
“High speed broadband is becoming a critical utility service like water, electricity and gas,” Conroy said in the statement. “It allows us to target those estates where it is possible to have fiber now, while ensuring others have fiber- ready infrastructure installed so it is easier and cheaper to connect them later.”
Legislation to split Telstra Corp., owner of the only existing national platform, has stalled in the Senate where Conroy’s Labor party doesn’t have a majority.
Telstra, Australia’s largest phone company, and Conroy have been in talks for six months on the split, which may see the company sell some assets and customers to NBN to avoid government curbs on expanding mobile services.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-17/australia-introduces-legislation-for-fiber-access-in-new-homes.html