CANBERRA, Australia, May 16 (UPI) -- The Australian government could provide funding for Telstra to expand broadband service into the country's rural outback.
Communications Minister Helen Coonan said the government's Broadband Connect fund could be used to help pay for third-generation wireless-phone broadband provided by Telstra and other telcos.
"While the demography and geography of regional and rural Australia may restrict multiple, competing infrastructure from being rolled out, I believe we need to promote competitive infrastructure as far as possible into areas where it will be sustainable in the long term," Coonan said Monday.
The Age said Coonan also told a telecom-industry conference in Canberra that Telstra was almost certain to build a $3 billion suburban broadband network. The network will work on two frequencies -- 2100 and 850 Megahertz -- that will provide wireless broadband service in urban areas and large rural regions.
