A consultation paper released today by the federal government aims to "modernise" the Universal Service Obligation, a requirement Telstra has legally had to meet in delivering communications to Australia for decades, pre-internet even. The USO is a set of rules that makes sure everyone in Australia gets some sort of telecommunications service regardless of where they live, as there's plenty of people out there who are uneconomical to deliver service to. Without the USO they'd be left behind. The government points out that NBN covers 97% of the population these days and Starlink can do the rest, so they wonder if it's really worth burdening Telstra with the requirement that they provide a service to every premises in Australia. The consultation process should report back to government mid-2024 with the feedback it gets from industry and the public.
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