Howard to add AU$150m to broadband kitty?

in brief Reports today suggested that Prime Minister John Howard would later this week pledge a further AU$150 million towards funding for regional broadband services.

Howard yesterday said he would shortly make a major announcement on enhanced broadband services, however, he did not reveal further details. Communications Minister Senator Helen Coonan's office declined to confirm details of the impending announcement or today's reports.

However, Fairfax and News Ltd newspapers this morning placed Howard's announcement as an additional AU$150 million contribution towards the federal government Broadband Connect funding initiative.

The bulk of the money is expected to go towards subsidising telcos to provide broadband on a per-subscriber basis, rather than adding to the AU$600 million pool of funds currently being allocated to large network infrastructure programs.