Australia Pledges 100Mbps Broadband for 90% of Population within 8 Years

Twenty years ago, Crocodile Dundee would have been the first thing we thought of when someone mentioned Australia. Eight years from now, we'll be thinking of crazy fast broadband when talking about our friends from down under. That's because Australia Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced an ambitious $43 billion project to build a high-speed, fiber-optic broadband network that would bring up to 100Mbps to 90 percent of the country's population.

"It's time for us to bit the bullet on this," Rudd said when announcing the decision. "The initiative announced today is a historic nation-building investment focused on Australia's long-term national interest."

According to Rudd, the broadband proposal would provide 37,000 jobs at the peak of construction and help boost the economy. The Government would be responsible for an initial investment of $4.7 billion, and up to 49 percent of the funds to be from the private sector. Under the project, homes not benefiting from the fiber-optic rollout will still have access to 12Mbps via wireless and satellite.

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