PY Media Broadband Demand Aggregate Consultancy Project

Milestones and Activities

Induction and Background of Demand Aggregation Broker
Education and Demonstration of the Benefits of Broadband
Media Campaign
Regional Meetings and Assessment of Demand
Development of a Local Aggregation Demand Strategy
Research, Identify, and Meet with Broadband Service Providers

Conduct regional meetings and travel to communities to assess demand across the APY Lands and to determine the commitment and needs of potential buyers of Broadband connections which will include community members, organisations, government agencies and commercial enterprises

In addition to the activities outlined in #1 above in relation to community education and awareness raising, the Broker has had a series of meetings about broadband issues with government departments and agencies working on the Lands and with the regional Anangu organisations. These discussions have concentrated on assessing the kinds of internet services currently being used by these organisations and trying to project their future needs to assess the capacity of organisations and departments to coordinate their implementation of broadband services with the programs and proposals being developed by PY Media for all users on the Lands.

Meetings have been held with the Director, General Manager and Communications Coordinator of Nganampa Health Council; the Chairperson, Director and full Executive of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara/Yangkuntjatjara Land Council; members of staff of the NPY Women’s Council; Executive Members and staff of AP Services Land Management Unit; the Coordinator and staff as well as a full meeting of the SA government’s Aboriginal Lands Task Force; staff members of FaCS as members of the AP Lands COAG trial and coordinators of the regional transaction centres now known as PYku; representatives of the SA Education Department including the Head of Aboriginal Education Services and the technical officer on the Lands; and staff from a range of departments and agencies involved in service and project delivery on the Lands. This process to assess demand and determine commitment of other agencies is ongoing and plans to continue have been made during this stage.

One of the issues in this area is that many of the government agencies are already planning and implementing some systems of broadband connection and doing so without any consultation with other users in the region. Communication between departments about these activities appears to be limited. It is important that unilaterally negotiated agreements with Internet Service Providers are coordinated at least to the extent that ensures the technological infrastructure that is developed is the most appropriate for all users of broadband on the Lands and not just what suits individual departments in the short term.

Again, the government should refer to the CCIF application from PY Media that is before DCITA.