About the Australian Broadband Guarantee

The Australian Broadband Guarantee is an Australian Government initiative designed to help residential and small business premises access a metro-comparable broadband service regardless of where they are located. The program targets premises unable to access commercial metro-comparable services, particularly those living in remote parts of Australia.

Under the Australian Broadband Guarantee, a metro-comparable broadband service is defined as any service that offers a minimum 512kbps download and 128kbps upload data speed, 3GB per month data usage at a total cost of $2500 GST inclusive over three years (including installation and connection fees).

The program works by paying internet service providers that register with the program a subsidy to provide metro-comparable broadband services to residential and small business premises where such services would not otherwise be available.

The Government has allocated $250.8 million over four years to 2012 to fund the Australian Broadband Guarantee, which complements the National Broadband Network by subsidising access to metro-comparable broadband where not otherwise available while the new network is rolled out.