Broadband Guide Blogs » Opel

Opel Bush Broadband contract terminated

Admin — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 01:06:00 +0000

The joint Optus/Elders ‘Opel’ contract which was meant to connect regional Australia with Broadband has been officially terminated by the Federal Government.

Opel was granted almost $1Billion ($958M) back in June 2007 to fund Broadband Internet development for the bush. However, the funding was awarded to Opel by the Liberal Government who, since then was replaced by the newly elected Labor Government.

The terminated contract was believed to have been canceled through the lack of sufficient coverage requirements, although Opel has stated that it is capable of meeting all the essential objectives.

WiMax still in need of support

Admin — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 14:56:00 +0000

As Optus and partner Elders (OPEL) finalize plans for a new wireless based network for rural and regional Australia, manufacturing for the technology appears to be slow with only limited amounts of WiMax devices now being available on the market.

As yet, no announcements have been made by OPEL on the type of devices and hardware that will be used for the new Australian WiMax services. And with WiMax device manufacturers still planning launch dates throughout 2008, along with the intended completion date of the Wireless network set as 2009, concerns of network commencement delays could possibly become a reality later this year.

There’s been no announcements of the types of devices that will be offered to OPEL customers, and calls by APCmag.com to Optus elicited no word on when such details would be made public.

One is Taiwanese computer company ASUSTeK which is planning to launch a range of devices with embedded WiMax chips later this year. Another US firm, hardware maker OQO, has plans to launch an ultra-mobile PC with WiMax capabilities sometime during 2008

Read the entire article at APCMag.com

OPEL Wireless Blackspots

Admin — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 17:47:00 +0000

Small ‘wireless’ Broadband Internet Service Providers may be left with the task of plugging up ‘black spots’ left by the OPEL consortium in their $2 Billion dolloar bid to patch up Australia’s regional wireless Broadband coverage areas. It’s believed that up to 40% of people in these regions may not be able to obtain a service.

SMALL wireless broadband providers may
save the Federal Government from political embarrassment by plugging gaps left
by the OPEL consortium’s $2 billion regional broadband network. The Government
claims the OPEL network will deliver metro-comparable broadband to 99 per cent
of Australians by June 2009, allocating $165 million for satellite and wireless
companies to service the “black spots” that remain…….

Read the whole article at news.com.au