The impact of the government initiatives and funding programs on internet access in rural and regional Australia

As our society increasingly depends on the Internet to deliver information, enhance communications, improve education and conduct business, it is becoming important to ensure that all citizens have Internet access at affordable prices. Almost all research conducted in this area shows that Internet technology is an important enabler of the emerging information economy in regional and rural Australia. However, the take-up of the Internet is not even throughout the country as is evidenced by research reported in the past five years such as the Telecommunications Service Inquiry (Besley 2000), the Regional Telecommunications Inquiry (Estens 2002), the BAG Report (Broadband Advisory Group 2003) and the Senate Report (Australian Senate 2004a). To understand the issues affecting Internet access in rural and regional Australia, this paper examines the key government initiatives and funding programs with respect to Internet access and reviews Internet access development in rural and regional Australia over the last decade. This paper attempts to analyses how effectively these initiatives and programs address rural and regional Internet access issues.