Today's announcement by the Leader of the Opposition that a Coalition
Government will provide access to fast digital services to all Australian
small businesses and private individuals will lay the foundation for
a vibrant and internationally competitive communications services industry
into the twenty-first century.
Speaking to the annual conference of the National Farmers' Federation,
Mr Howard outlined the Coalition's vision for a commercially-driven
advanced communications services industry, based on a platform of fast
digital communications to the home and small office.
Five separate initiatives were announced today. A Coalition Government will:
* Require Telstra to adhere to a July 1997 target for the substantial
completion of the digitisation of telecommunications exchanges.
* Require Telstra to immediately offer fast, digital, computer-quality
services to all customers with lines connected to digital exchanges.
* Bring these digital services within the price cap regime, so that prices
better reflect underlying costs.
* Enable remote communities outside the exchange digitisation areas to obtain
access to comparable services by investigating the most appropriate
lowest-cost technical options
* Establish a National Cultural Network in order to put Australia's major
public cultural institutions online.
While the Government's own Broadband Services Expert Group (BSEG) and the
National Information Services Council (NISC) have noted that the development
of the communications services industry requires access to fast cheap digital
transmission, the Government has failed to rise to the challenge.
It is simply unacceptable that a significant proportion of the population,
particularly in regional and remote Australia, should be denied access to the
same quality of service as is available in metropolitan areas.
Under the Coalition, more competitive prices and better quality of service
will enable the online services industry to have a fair go at the national and
international markets which they must win to sustain their growth.
And all Australian businesses and consumers will have access to the services
required to put Australia at the forefront of the Information Age.
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Contact: David Kennedy 06 277 3605 21 November 1995