Liberal candidate for Isaacs, Ross Fox, sitting outside Noble Park’s Cafe Salvo, says the Federal Government’s new WiMax wireless broadband network will cover the township within 12 months and allow Internet buffs to free themselves from wires.By Shaun Inguanzo
NOBLE Park residents will have high-speed, next generation wireless Internet within 12 months as part of a $958 million Federal Government broadband rollout.
But the announcement was softened by revelations that residents already have access to cheaper, ultra-fast wired technology.
Liberal Party candidate for the federal seat of Isaacs, Ross Fox, said a WiMax wireless Internet tower would be installed in Lyndhurst within the next 12 months as part of the Federal Government’s commitment to providing regional broadband access.
Mr Fox said Lyndhurst’s WiMax tower would provide Internet access that was faster than conventional wired ADSL and existing WiFi hotspots, and cover the City of Greater Dandenong, including Noble Park.
Mr Fox said he believed it would be more affordable than current wireless technologies.
If the Federal Government is re-elected, Mr Fox said it would then upgrade existing copper wire infrastructure with fibre optic cabling to provide a faster wired network with speeds of 12 megabit per second from 2009 onwards.
But a Star investigation of broadband Internet access in Greater Dandenong has revealed that the local telephone exchanges covering Springvale, Noble Park and Dandenong are among the first in Melbourne’s south east to become enabled with another superfast Internet technology, ADSL2+.
Densely populated areas in the neighbouring City of Casey, including Cranbourne, Narre Warren South, and Berwick, cannot yet access this technology.
ADSL2+ is the latest evolution of Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) technology, and it offers speeds up to 90 times faster than the conventional ADSL that is available across the state.
ADSL2+ speeds are already reaching up to 20 megabits per second, and cost as little as $29.95 per month.
But Mr Fox said ADSL technologies had technical limitations, and residents he’d spoken to had complained about being ineligible for ADSL and ADSL2+.
“If you are too far from the telephone exchange or there is no room at the exchange, then those are technical obstacles that can’t be overcome with the existing infrastructure,” Mr Fox said.
“From my understanding, that is a large portion of the community.”
Keysborough’s exchange does not have access to ADSL2+ technology, and despite being ADSL enabled, residents in newer housing estates are sitting on ‘technology blockers’ such as Remote Integrated Multiplexers and Pair Gains Systems.
The systems are installed where there is a lack of copper lines to meet the number of houses in a specific location.
While they allow for increased telephone services, the blockers do not allow for ADSL access unless they are upgraded.
Mr Fox said the state of Australia’s broadband Internet was inferior to countries such as Japan and Korea – which have connections of up to 60 megabits per second – because of Australia’s scattered population over a large land mass.
“The reality is that Australia is one of the least densely populated countries in world,” he said.
“So it is much more expensive to deliver the sorts of services you’re pointing to in Japan and Korea.
“But the Government is working on it now, and plans to provide a grant to build a network that covers 99 per cent of our population.”
The $958 million contract to build the WiMax network and rollout ADSL2+ in regional areas was last week awarded to a joint venture between Optus and Elders, called Opel.
Labor’s broadband plan, revealed in March, would see it fund a $4.7 billion fibre optic network covering all of Australia.
