BETTER BROADBAND OPPORTUNITIES
FOR KALGOORLIE-BOULDER

4 June 2004
73/04

Residents and businesses in Kalgoorlie-Boulder will get better deals for broadband services with help from a demand aggregation broker funded by the Australian Government.

Today, with the Member for Kalgoorlie, Barry Haase MP, and Western Australian Senator Alan Eggleston, I was pleased to announce Government funding of $300,000 to engage a broadband demand aggregation broker in the region.

This important funding will strengthen the purchasing power of nine local government authorities in this region, including the city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder and the shires of Esperance, Wiluna, Dundas, Leonora, Laverton, Coolgardie, Menzies and Ngaanyatjarraku.

The demand aggregation broker will also raise awareness and improve understanding of the benefits of broadband services across the region.

The 25-month project will primarily be targeted at the mining industries, tourism, local government authorities, Australian and Western Australian government departments and small businesses operating in the region.

Broadband services will be particularly useful for allowing effective and efficient communication of data by mine sites, which are often located a long way out of town and need to communicate with Perth and other national and international destinations.

Broadband access in the region will also have the potential to attract and retain professional staff in a wide range of professional and government sectors.

One of the aims of this demand aggregation broker project is the development of a Virtual Private Network for mining companies in the region.

This will build on some existing infrastructure developed for a trial of health broadband as part of the Howard Government's $9.2 million Access to Broadband for General Practitioners initiative.

The demand aggregation brokers program is an important component of the Government's National Broadband Strategy and forms part of the Government's response to the Regional Telecommunications Inquiry.

Other successful applicants for funding under the demand aggregation brokers program will be announced shortly.

More information on the program is available at:
http://www2.dcita.gov.au/ie/framework/broadband


Media Contact: Carina Tan-Van Baren (02) 6277 7480 or 0439 425 373