ATA Welcomes Reforms to Digital Infrastructure Deployments
The Australian Telecommunications Alliance (ATA) has welcomed the Government’s commitment to speed up the deployment of digital infrastructure. Announced as part of a suite of ‘boosting productivity’ measures in the Federal Budget, the Government committed to “streamline approvals for telecommunications infrastructure,” along with a broader economy-wide program to reduce regulatory costs.
“Telecoms networks are critical national infrastructure that all Australians rely on every day,” said ATA CEO Luke Coleman. “Making it easier to build digital infrastructure like mobile towers and fibre-optic cables will deliver more coverage, more capacity, and more resilient networks for the nation.”
“Red tape is holding back construction of new telecoms networks at the very time Australia needs it most. This commitment to streamlining approvals is a positive step, and we look forward to working with the Government to progress specific reforms,” Mr Coleman said.
Telcos are currently tied up in red tape when they build new networks. The construction of one fibre-optic backbone between two capital cities required more than 3,000 land access activity notices, 1,128 construction certificates, 1,723 land access surveys, and 171 cultural heritage and environmental assessments. It takes three years – and often as long as five years – to build new mobile towers under the Government’s Mobile Black Spot Program. Development approvals for new mobile towers take more than six months to obtain, on average, according to AMTA’s Future of Mobile report.
“Digital infrastructure is the foundation of the modern economy, underpinning virtually every aspect of economic activity. Every sector in the Australian economy is dependent on telco networks and the services they provide for productivity growth,” Mr Coleman said.
“As a nation, we need to incentivise investment in digital infrastructure to unlock the productivity-enhancing benefits of AI and digitisation. High-capacity and resilient 5G and fibre networks are a critical enabler for AI, and accelerated deployment of these networks will be a boon for Australia’s productivity.”
The Government’s commitment to accelerating approvals for network deployments addresses a key proposal in the ATA’s pre-Budget submission.
The ATA has called on Government to develop a digital infrastructure strategy (including removing planning bottlenecks); to make key inputs to network deployment available (such as spectrum); to provide investment incentives; and to pursue regulatory reform to reduce red tape – which would ultimately see more investment in critical digital infrastructure.
