Wednesday, 13th April 2022
Outline:
There is emerging recognition of the need for different agents and approaches from mainstream infrastructure provision to achieve regional, rural, and remote connectivity, as indicated in the recent ABAC AgriTech report and the Regional Telecommunications Review. This forum will explore actions taken by the NSW Government through its Regional Digital Connectivity (RDC) Program, including its focus on shared infrastructure for mobile services, then draw on the experience of the New Zealand Rural Connectivity Group (RCG) which has been implementing shared infrastructure approaches for several years.
Chair: Dr Murray Milner (TelSoc Broadband Futures Group)
Panellists:
Peter Adams, Director of the NSW Regional Digital Connectivity (RDC) Program will discuss the NSW Government’s commitment of over $450 million to improve mobile coverage, ag-tech adoption, and internet connectivity for the most underserved areas of NSW.
RDC’s current $50M Mobile Coverage project is developing active sharing partnerships with the industry; aiming to increase competition and consumer choice – while reducing environmental impact, energy consumption, operating costs, and future capex investments of individual operators.
Steve Inglis from Crown Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and John Proctor, CEO of the Rural Connectivity Group (RCG) will present on the Rural Coverage in New Zealand based on Shared Cellular sites. The sites are owned and operated by RCG and the three mobile companies sell services using the shared sites. They currently have around 300 shared sites in operation throughout rural New Zealand. CIP provides government funding for the development of the RCG sites based on the fact that all the sites are considered to be uneconomic for any commercial operator to fund. The Operational costs are then shared by the mobile operators and the revenue is shared based on usage.
Date and Time
Wed, 13 Apr 2022
12:00 - 13:45 AEST
Location
Presenter(s)
Peter has spent his career transforming organisations and regional Australia through change initiatives underpinned by technology.
He has worked across industry sectors including: ICT, aviation, logistics, agribusiness, employment, higher education, telecommunications, and all three tiers of government.
His research background is in the adoption of innovations - and his PhD is titled: "Household Adoption of Technology: The case of high-speed broadband in Australia".
Steve joined Crown Infrastructure Partners in 2016 in the role of Programme Manager for Mobile Black Spots and the Second Phase of the Rural Broadband Initiative. The programme has since received further funding which will be used to expand broadband and mobile coverage. As well as the RCG, at last count RBI2 partners included 17 Wireless Internet Service Providers. The latest tranche of government funding is the Rural Capacity Upgrade which will augment, or offload congested Mobile Broadband towers.
Before joining CIP Steve was the New Zealand Country Manager for Ericsson Communications Ltd. He has an Engineering degree in Electrical and Electronics from the University of Canterbury.
John Proctor has vast experience in radio, telecommunications, and infrastructure bringing extensive knowledge to leading the Rural Connectivity Group to deliver the Rural Broadband Initiative Phase 2 and Mobile Black Spot Fund programme. John has worked across all aspects of senior management, spearheading substantial telecommunications projects over the past 25 years including CEO of Telecom Cooks Islands where he was” hands-on” in all aspects of the network and was responsible for over 200 staff. More recently, John has held senior roles in NZ working for Spark, The Warehouse Group and 2Degrees where he has proven his ability in decision making, managing resources and operations along with managing communication between the Board, the Shareholders and Crown Infrastructure Partners.