{"id":39049,"date":"2023-10-20T15:00:29","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/regional-australia-is-crying-out-for-fair-broadband-access-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:00:29","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:00:29","slug":"regional-australia-is-crying-out-for-fair-broadband-access-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/regional-australia-is-crying-out-for-fair-broadband-access-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Regional Australia is crying out for fair broadband access – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
Internet and broadband connectivity are the foundation of the networked economy<\/a>. But to ensure the benefits of the networked economy are evenly distributed, the Australian government needs to ensure access to the internet to encourage and support innovation.<\/p>\n A recent report from SGS Economics and Planning highlights a widening gap<\/a> between the economic workhorses of Sydney and Melbourne and regional Australia.<\/p>\n All of the key sectors experiencing growth depend upon the networked economy. The emerging economic environment is leveraging the rapid rise in real-time connectivity between people, businesses, devices and systems.<\/p>\n The result is the digitisation of many transactions and growing importance of data. The Productivity Commission\u2019s draft report on data use and availability highlights the need for clear thinking to make this transformation fair for all stakeholders<\/a>.<\/p>\n When the telephone network was rolled out, this was enshrined in the Universal Service Obligation (USO<\/a>), a framework to provide a basic level of connectivity.<\/p>\n A key question is whether the USO principle of connectivity is sufficient for the emerging Australian networked economy. The answer is very clearly \u201cyes\u201d. But urgent attention is required to deliver fair, equitable and cost-effective access to broadband and internet connectivity to enable economic development in the cities and the regions.<\/p>\n To be digitally inclusive, Australia needs to overcome the digital divide. There is a significant divergence in the nature and availability of communication and internet services for regional Australia.<\/p>\n