The challenges and opportunities of delivering wireless high speed broadband services in Rural and Remote Australia: A Case Study of Western Downs Region (WDR)
Sanjib Tiwari, Michael Lane, Khorshed Alam

TL;DR
This paper evaluates the current state of wireless broadband infrastructure in rural Western Downs, Australia, highlighting gaps in coverage, speed, and reliability, and suggests collaborative investments to improve access.
Contribution
It provides a detailed case study of WDR's broadband infrastructure challenges and offers strategic recommendations for enhancing rural connectivity.
Findings
Limited ADSL/ADSL2+ coverage in towns
Inconsistent 4G mobile network availability
Variable satisfaction with existing services
Abstract
This paper critically assesses wireless broadband internet infrastructure, in the rural and remote communities of WDR in terms of supply, demand and utilisation. Only 8 of 20 towns have ADSL/ADSL2+, and only 3 towns have 4G mobile network coverage. Conversely all of the towns have 2G/3G mobile network coverage but have problems with speed, reliability of service and capacity to handle data traffic loads at peak times. Satellite broadband internet for remote areas is also patchy at best. Satisfaction with existing wireless broadband internet services is highly variable across rural and remote communities in WDR. Finally we provide suggestions to improve broadband internet access for rural and remote communities. Public and private investment and sharing of wired and wireless broadband internet infrastructure is needed to provide the backhaul networks and 4G mobile and fixed wireless…
Peer Reviews
No public reviews on file for this paper yet. If you reviewed it on a platform where reviews are public (OpenReview, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML), you can paste yours below so the community can read it here.
Videos
No videos yet. Explain this paper in a talk, walkthrough, or lecture? Add one.
Taxonomy
TopicsICT Impact and Policies · Education Systems and Policy
