The Federal Opposition has attacked the Communications Minister over her suggestion most Australians are happy with the speed of their Internet connection.
Senator Helen Coonan says she is disappointed Telstra has scrapped its $4 billion plan to upgrade Internet technology to make it faster, but that it is not the end of the world.
She told ABC TV’s The 7.30 Report that most Australians are content with things as they are.
“Currently no one is complaining about their speed of broadband in metropolitan areas,” she said.
“Well they ought to be (happy) in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, certainly and Perth,” she said.
“They should be reasonably happy with their speed of broadband, if they have ADSL 2 Plus.
“There are nine providers that already provide these speeds.”
The internet must be faster and rural and regional areas deserve fast speeds. When areas which are still fairly populated cannot even get DSL that is pathetic. It also comes down to Telstra the major phone company in Australia. Half owned by the Government, it needs to return to talks with other ISPs and do this upgrade. If Australia wants to be taken seriously and please consumers outside of the Sydney CBD then they need to get real and get their head out from the sand and listen to computer users who want faster connections.
Are you aware that it says on ABC website, “Helen Coonan says people in most capital cities should be happy with their high speed broadband connections.” Keyword there being Capital Cities, who are the ones who can normally get the ADSL+2 technologey.
…and my point is not everyone is in capital cities. The current service for people outside the CBD and large Suburbs is pathetic.