Australia strikes broadband deal with Telstra and Optus NBN company

Australia's two biggest telecoms companies have joined the government's AUD 36bn plan to roll-out high-speed internet across the country. Telstra and Optus will close down their infrastructure and transfer customers to the state-owned National Broadband Network Company (NBNC). About 60 percent of households have broadband, but speeds are slow compared with many industrialised countries. The plan is to connect more than 90 percent of households to a super-fast network. The two telecoms companies already have extensive broadband operations, but the government said it would be more economical to bring all the parties together. Telstra estimates it could make about AUD 11bn over several decades from the new deal as it will earn revenues through disconnection payments as well a share of profits from the new network. Optus, owned by Singapore Telecommunications, will make about AUD 800m. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Developement (OECD) says that the average advertised broadband speed in Australia was 32.4 megabytes per second in 2010. That is less than the average for all OECD nations of 37.5 megabytes per second. The difference in speeds is blamed on the huge distances and rough terrain that makes connecting the towns and cities across Australia an expensive investment. The aim is to deliver broadband speeds of 100 megabits per second to homes, schools and businesses. Only a few countries, including South Korea, Japan, and Germany, currently achieve such speeds. Opposition parties have called the project a costly folly and promised to review the plans should they ever get into government.

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/australia_strikes_broadband_deal_with_telstra_and_optus_nbn_company/