BROADBAND SERVICES

Mr PICCOLO (Light) (14:36): My question is to the Minister for Science and Information Economy. What progress has been made to ensure there is improved access to broadband internet services in regional areas of South Australia?

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Employment, Training and Further Education, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for Youth, Minister for Gambling) (14:36): I thank the honourable member for Light for his question. The state government remains firmly committed to the provision of broadband services across South Australia. We are keenly aware, of course, of the importance of broadband to both educational institutions and businesses, and also we recognise the role it plays in providing individuals with access to a vast array of information and communication services.

In March this year, following the sudden cessation of the federal government's connect subsidy broadband projects in the Yorke Peninsula, Barossa, Light and the Coorong were abruptly halted. I understand the reasons behind the cessation of that subsidy, and quite clearly it was that the amount of money that was being expended there was not getting a good enough bang for the buck. It went dry and, of course, it required a review. But it left those areas under a little bit of pressure, and indeed caused many months of frustration for residents and businesses in those areas. As a result of the intense lobbying and negotiation by the state government the Broadband SA team, in conjunction of course with the relevant local councils, the regional development boards and broadband providers like Internode/Agile and Amcom—

Mr Venning interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: I will get to that, Ivan. I am pleased to inform the house that the provision of wireless broadband to regional areas of South Australia appears to be back on track. In response to the comments of the member for Schubert, I must also acknowledge the support of the member for Goyder, who took a very keen interest in this issue on behalf of his constituents. He was an absolute pleasure to work with. This is an outstanding result for our state and vindicates our determined efforts to bring affordable, high speed broadband access to residents and businesses in regional areas.

In further good news on this front, I am informed that the OPEL consortium is expected to redeploy the resources they were proposing to use in the Yorke Peninsula, Barossa, Light and the Coorong. If this occurs it would further boost broadband services in other areas of South Australia not covered by the original OPEL proposal. In Yorke Peninsula, Internode, through its sister company Agile Communications, has been successful in registering the region under the Australian Broadband Guarantee, and they will be the first Australian provider to deliver a region-wide, wireless broadband service using the WiMAX standard. This will offer services, many months in advance, that meet or exceed those promised by OPEL. Connections for residents and businesses in the Coorong region are expected to begin almost immediately. In the Barossa and Light regions connections are expected to resume shortly, and Internode expects to begin connecting services for customers on Yorke Peninsula within a few weeks, following installation of the new WiMAX equipment.

I wish to highlight to all members that, right from the beginning, South Australia's regional broadband projects have been developed with a strong emphasis on community involvement so that the most appropriate local solutions could be determined. South Australia's unique collaborative approach, and our innovative system of broadband demand aggregation, is now paying off and thousands of individuals and businesses in our regional areas will soon have access to fast and affordable broadband.