SYDNEY (WiMAX Day). Australian WiMAX operator Unwired and subscription TV operator Austar have submitted a joint proposal to the Australian government for the Broadband Connect Infrastructure Program (BCIP). The BCIP program is an AU$878 million initiative to support equitable access to high quality, sustainable broadband services across regional and rural Australia. The program was accepting bids from service providers until yesterday for funding to supply higher bandwidth services in regional, rural and remote areas of Australia at prices comparable to those available in metropolitan areas. In a press release, Unwired CEO David Spence said “The AUSalliance proposal is unique in its provision of a truly alternative network in the form of Mobile WiMAX. The WiMAX network will offer services equivalent, and in many cases better, in price and performance to the most popular ADSL offerings without the need for copper to the home.” The recently privatised Australian telco Telstra, which earlier this year dropped plans for a multi-billion dollar rural broadband initiative of its own, reluctantly submitted a last minute proposal of AU$600 million to extend its existing copper-wire ADSL service into the heart of the Australian outback.