Industry players plan broadband education campaign

The Communications Alliance is bringing together the who's who of the telecommunications industry to launch a consumer education and awareness program ahead of construction of the $43 billion national broadband network.

The group -- which has secured the backing and participation of the NBN Co, the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, ATUG and the Internet Society -- will consult with industry to come up with a program to educate consumers about how migration to the NBN could play out. The group is awaiting confirmation from the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network and the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission for its participation and will seek participation from retail service providers too. Once all members are signed up, the group will devise a consumer education program to explain how NBN network architecture will look inside a customer's premise, the costs of migration, how to deal with multiple Internet providers and customer options regarding fault management among a variety of topics.