Eric Schmidt the Chairman of internet giant Google, has given the National Broadband Network (NBN) the thumbs up claiming that Australia will lead the world.
Speaking at a conference in Barcelona, chairman Eric Schmidt said “Australia is leading the world in understanding the importance of fibre,” he said and in words that could win Communications Minister Stephen Conroy brownie points he said “Australia has shown great leadership on the issue. This is leadership from Australia, I think is wonderful.”
“Your new Prime Minister has announced that 93 per cent of Australians, which I guess are all the folks in the cities, will have gigabit or equivalent service using fibre, and the other 7 per cent will be handled through wireless services of a nature of LTE,” he added.
A spokesman for the NBN Co says Mr Schmidt’s comments underline widespread international interest and support for the project.
Speaking at an Internet Retail Forum in Sydney on Friday, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy described the NBN a “significant milestone that will benefit retailers in Australia”.
He said the Government and Telstra had also also reached an agreement over measures announced last year to help with the transition to the NBN.
“These measures include a public information campaign, providing $100 million to retrain Telstra’s workforce to deploy the NBN, and implementing the Government’s reforms to deliver the universal services obligation and other public interest services,” he said.
