Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
Technology
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Internet
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Environment
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Australia to invest $31 billion in broadband
Tue Apr 7, 2009 9:51am EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Rob Taylor
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's government will build a A$43 billion ($31 billion) high-speed broadband network, leading a new private-public company, after rejecting bids by companies that it said failed to offer value for money.
In a surprise move, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on Tuesday the government would ask private companies to join the country's biggest infrastructure project to build a network that would be up to 100 times faster than the current network.
Australia has slower and more expensive Internet services than many developed countries, raising concerns about competitiveness, but the project will be made more difficult by the country's vast distances and inhospitable terrain.
"It's time for us to bite the bullet on this. The initiative announced today is a historic nation-building investment focused on Australia's long-term national interest," Rudd told reporters at parliament.
The center-left government would sell its majority stake five years after the network, which still requires parliamentary approval, was fully operational.
The fibre-optic network, central to Rudd's winning election campaign in late 2007, will be Australia's biggest reliance yet on public-private partnerships and underscores Rudd's preference for government intervention amid a bruising global financial crisis.
CONTENTIOUS TENDER
A consortium comprising wealthy Australian businessmen and telecoms industry veterans had been favorite to win the project ahead of Optus, which is owned by Singapore Telecommunications, and Canada's Axia NetMedia.
The tender process was enveloped in controversy after the country's largest phone company, Telstra Corp, was dumped from the running in December, after the government panel overseeing bids said its proposal did not fit requirements.
Rudd said the new network would be built with money from a A$20 billion national infrastructure fund and the sale of bonds, following an initial government investment of A$4.7 billion. Private sector investment would be capped at 49 percent.
It adds to A$78 billion in economic stimulus measures announced by the government since September to help shield the stalling economy.
Rudd estimated building the network would take 7-8 years, presenting a risk that voters could be alienated by the long delay as the government faces re-election late next year.
"We've delivered an enhanced election commitment. We're actually delivering faster speeds to more people," Communications Minister Stephen Conroy told Reuters, shaking off concerns that the scrapped tender could anger voters and big telcos.
"The global financial crisis impacted right in the middle of the process. The crisis landed right on top of (telcos), the money dried up for everyone," Conroy said, adding Telstra would now be invited back into the process.
The network would operate on a wholesale-only, open access basis, separating retail operations and allowing Optus, Telstra and other companies to build services into the system. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
Salesforce offers customers free service
Also on Reuters
Mortgage delinquencies soar in the U.S.
Blog: Las Vegas casinos are missing Lady Luck
Sweeter returns for maple syrup makers
More Technology News
Salesforce offers customers free service
Yahoo looks outside its walls with new music service
Page first turned on e-book idea long ago
Labels bet flexibility boosts iTunes sales
New T-Mobile gadgets to sport Google's Android: report
More Technology News...
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Italy earthquake toll passes 200 | Video
U.S. fighter jets scrambled to intercept stolen plane
Optimism on U.S. economy up: poll | Video
Soros says U.S. faces "lasting slowdown" | Video
Skeleton found in tree 29 years after suicide
VIDEO: Ice shelf brink of collapse
ANALYSIS-North Korea Kim Jong-il's fortunes soar on rocket
Playboy TV fined over explicit content
Congress slams defense budget cuts | Video
U.S. defense plan kills programs, trims missile shield
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Interview: George Soros
Not everybody loves Obama
Gates cuts US weapons programs
Soros sees recovery in 2010
Hunt for Italian quake survivors
Testing and consequences
Pulled alive from Italy quake rubble
Many dead in Italian quake
Talk of the town: Underwood wins big
Obama: US not at war with Islam
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
THE GREAT DEBATE
Real-life spy thriller in cyberspace
Eric Auchard
Once in a while a good computer security scare comes along that has all the makings of a taut Cold War spy thriller and the latest news of a global computer espionage ring is one such story. Commentary
Reuters Deals
The global destination for corporate leaders, deal-makers and innovators
Knowledge to Act
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Interactive TV |
Labs |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.