AN EXTRA 300,000 Australian homes will get high-speed broadband after Labor adopted key recommendations from a National Broadband Network inquiry.
The Government today will unveil for the first time the spaghetti network of fibre-optic cable linking towns and regions across Victoria to the National Broadband Network, the Herald Sun reports.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said that the Government, if re-elected, would be extending the coverage of the broadband network from 90 per cent to 93 per cent of the country - meaning an extra 300,000 homes would be now connected that otherwise would have missed out.
The Government claims the broadband services will provide internet services at speeds 100 times faster than present.
It is now expected more than 11 million homes will be connected across Australia. The remaining 7 per cent will be serviced by privately run satellite or wireless services.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who has described Labor's plan for a state-owned internet network as nationalised madness, has said he will scrap it if he wins office, claiming it is a waste of taxpayers' money.
He said the Coalition would announce its own broadband policy, which would address all parts of the country currently with poor or no access to decent net services.
Read more at the Herald Sun online
Follow weeklytimesnow.com.au on Twitter
