Businesses and residents of South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula are set to switch on Australia’s ‘first’ region wide wireless broadband service based on the WiMAX standard in the coming weeks as part of the Government’s $162.5 million Broadband Guarantee.

Broadband service provider Internode will deploy the WiMAX technology to connect customers beyond the reach of wired ADSL services to the internet at the same price as existing metropolitan customers.

Internode will also deploy high speed broadband services for residents of the Coorong region.

The programme first launched in 2005, was stopped in March 2007 after Government funding shortfalls, said a company spokesperson.

Now, concluding a funding agreement with the Government, Internode is able to recommence the program.

“By the end of the year, it will be Australia’s first region wide WiMAX standard covering with blanket coverage across the entire peninsula rather than existing hot spot WiMAX services,” a company spokesperson told iTNews.com.au

David Cannon, senior analyst for telecommunications at IDC said it’s great that Internode has acquired the funding to continue their roll-out of broadband services to remote and rural areas and deliver their service at that price.

“Their choice to use WiMAX is an appropriate use of the technology for the region. But I can’t be certain that what they’re doing is the first, if not the first, it will be one of first,” said Cannon.

The OPEL $1.9 billion national high speed broadband network joint venture between Optus and rural group Elders is also using the WiMAX standard for regional areas, he added.

Announcing the program today at an event in the Yorke Peninsula, Senator Helen Coonan, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, took the opportunity to leverage the Government’s broadband policy.

“Labor will turn regional and rural Australia into a telecommunications backwater with no targeted government assistance for future telecommunications upgrades,” said Senator Coonan.

Users in the Yorke Peninsula and the Coorong region can apply for high-speed broadband services from Monday 22 October.