September 7th, 2009 4:03 pm

ABC push for unmetered content on national broadband network

While fellow networks continue to lag behind in the online arena, the ABC continue their mission to bring their catch-up TV services to as many Australians as possible.

In a recent submission to the federal government, the ABC have proposed that the national broadband network (NBN) should be exempt from including download charges for ABC and other publicly funded content.

“This principle of free carriage of publicly funded content should be included in the public interest objectives of the NBN company and the company should be legislatively obliged to devise an effective mechanism for implementing it,” said ABC’s managing director Mark Scott.

By removing the download charges for streaming content, the ABC would be able to serve their catch-up TV and iView services to a much larger market, particularly those restricted by small download quotas.

Under the new NBN, internet service providers would utilise government funded infrastructure for providing internet access. Should the government agree to pass the ABC’s proposal, all ISPs utilising the NBN would be required to instate unmetered access for publicly funded content.

Currently, only a small number of second tier internet service providers have opted to provided the ABC’s content unmetered, while Australia’s two largest ISPs Telstra and Optus, have refused to provided free access to these services.

Telstra refused to comment on the new proposal, while Optus said it was too early to comment on whether they deemed it reasonable.

Source: The Australian