Australia’s communications industry agrees on broadband policy principles

Australia’s communications industry has agreed on a series of “fundamental principles” that should be the basis for development of policy governing the broadband environment.

The Board of Communications Alliance, one of the industry’s peak representative bodies, has signed off on the principles and will advocate that the Federal Government adopt them as the framework for its broadband policy development.

In support of the Government’s broadband initiatives, Communications Alliance has also decided it will proactively lead work on a defined set of priority areas in 2008.

Communications Alliance CEO Anne Hurley said the board believed that, with the Government’s policy initiatives for broadband infrastructure deployment, it was the right time to develop a policy framework for the broadband-enabled environment of converged networks, technologies and services.

“Communications Alliance will support the implementation of the Government’s policy initiatives and advocate for a policy framework for the convergence era based on the policy principles we have enunciated,” Hurley said.

Announcement of these initiatives – titled Preparing for a Broadband World -- complements the discussion and debate that will ensue when the industry comes together next week for the Broadband and Beyond 2008 conference, co-hosted by Communications Alliance and Telstra Wholesale (see www.broadbandandbeyond2008.com).

The Communications Alliance was formed in 2006 to provide a unified voice for the Australian communications industry and to lead it into the next generation of converging networks, technologies and services.

Membership of Communications Alliance is drawn from a wide cross-section of the communications industry, including service providers, vendors, consultants and suppliers.