The Rudd government has signalled a tough anti-inflation budget that will also honour Labor's election promises.
One such promise was to build a $4.7 billion high-speed national broadband network (NBN) - one of the budget's biggest funding allocations for a single project.
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy says the widespread availability and affordability of first-class broadband services is a first-order priority.
"Australians should have access to the best infrastructure and services possible in order to maximise the potential benefits from the transition to the digital economy," he told the Sydney Institute this week.
"Connectivity should be available to all Australians irrespective of where they choose to live or work.
"And the affordability of services, including for disadvantaged members of our society, is a critical element of the equation, and an important policy focus for government."
Senator Conroy says the NBN will rival the Snowy Mountains hydro scheme in terms of scale and significance.
But the federal opposition has been highly critical of the NBN project, arguing it's years from completion and ignores the broadband needs of rural, regional and remote Australia.
The government has already allocated $95 million to fund the continuation of the Australian Broadband Guarantee (ABG) until 2009.
The ABG provides subsidies to people living in broadband black spot areas and grants for telcos with innovative proposals to increase broadband access to people in rural, regional and remote Australia.
But opposition communications spokesman Bruce Billson says the budget should also include funding that guarantees the continuation of the ABG until the NBN is completed.
Billson has called for hundreds of millions of dollars to be allocated in the budget to support the broadband needs of rural, regional and remote Australia for at least the next five years.
Already on the table is $9.28 million for a joint project with the West Australian government aimed at integrating the communication systems of the state's health and emergency service organisations.
The Digital Switchover Taskforce, meanwhile, has been allocated $37.9 million for a range of measures to ensure a smooth transition in Australia from analogue to digital television.
There will also likely be some money for e-security initiatives.
But with the government determined to deliver an inflation-fighting budget, telecommunications analyst Paul Budde says it is unlikely there will be any new major funding initiatives in the area of communications.
Budde says the government could, however, use the budget to provide some more details regarding the rollout of the NBN.
"They've got this national plan and within that national plan the policy will be further developed, but I don't expect anything outside that," he said.
Nonetheless, the budget allocation for the NBN is substantial. The $4.7 billion for the NBN represents one of the biggest single budget expenditures outside of the $31 billion the government has set aside to pay for its promised tax cuts.
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Quelle/Source: TVNZ, 08.05.2008
