Australians Moving On Broadband

There's an interesting post on Reuters today about how the Australian government has rejected private company bids and has decided to lead a new private-public company, building out their own $31 billion high-speed broadband network. The government will ask private companies to join the infrastructure project, building a network that would be up to 100 times faster than the current network.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is quoted in the piece, saying:

It's time for us to bite the bullet on this. The initiative announced today is a historic nation-building investment focused on Australia's long-term national interest.

After the network is fully operational for five years, the government plans to sell its majority stake.

A gutsy move by Rudd in uncertain fiscal times that will likely pay off when things start to improve.

The initiative still requires Australian parliamentary approval.