The federal government has pledged to deliver access to an internet service with speeds of at least 25 megabits per second by 2016 the Member for Parkes, Mark Coulton said.
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Mr Coulton said he spoke with the Minister for Communications Malcolm Turnbull in Parliament last week and said communications and access to services such as fast and reliable broadband were important issues for the electorate.
“I am confident that he has an understanding of the needs of my electorate,” said Mr Coulton.
“In terms of broadband rollout, I want to see a service delivered to the regions that will make internet access reliable. It needs to be affordable, and because it is an investment of taxpayer money it needs to be delivered in a responsible way.”
Mr Coulton said that circumstances of each town would be considered, and the rollout of a fixed line service would be done in the way that was most suited for that situation.
“The Minister has made it clear, and I completely agree with him, that there is no point having an ideological war on the way in which broadband access is delivered.”
“In the Parkes Electorate a vast majority of the geographical region will be covered by the satellite service.
“Some people are already connected to the fixed wireless service, and some will be connected through a fixed line.”
Mr Coulton said that while internet access is vital for the region, access to reliable mobile coverage was also an important issue for country people.
“I will also be working with Minister Turnbull, and his Parliamentary Secretary, Paul Fletcher on the Coalition’s Mobile Blackspots Programme, and this is also an issue that we discussed this week,” he said.
Although the National Broadband Network (NBN) was formerly scheduled to roll out to more than 2450 local premises by mid-2014, Mudgee has been removed from the roll-schedule on the NBN website.
