| Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy | |
|---|---|
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1999 |
| Jurisdiction | Commonwealth of Australia |
| Employees | 773 (2006) |
| Annual budget | A$129.08 million (2005/06) |
| Agency executives | Mr Peter Harris, Secretary Mr Colin Lyons, Deputy Secretary, Infrastructure Mr Abul Rizvi, Deputy Secretary, Digital Economy and Services Mr Andy Townend, Deputy Secretary, Broadcasting and Digital Switchover |
| Child agency | Australian Communications and Media Authority |
| Website | |
| http://www.dbcde.gov.au | |
The department's strategic policy areas include:
DBCDE is the primary replacement for the former Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA) which was disbanded in 2007. DCITA was dissolved in December 2007 with the election of the Rudd Government. Responsibility for the arts was transferred to the new Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts and the responsibility for sports was transferred to the Department of Health and Ageing.
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The Higher Bandwidth Incentive Scheme (HiBIS) was a strategy to provide registered Internet service providers with incentive payments to supply higher bandwidth services in regional, rural and remote areas at prices comparable to those available in metropolitan areas.
In June 2007, a landmark funding and legislative initiative was announced by the Department, stating that 99% of the Australian population will have fast, affordable broadband by June 2009. Australia Connected will be a new national high speed wholesale network, independent of current service providers, aiming to deliver 12Mb speeds using ADSL2, fibre, and wireless connections.