The Internet Society of Australia has criticised the $131 million being allocated by the federal government to cover the telecommunications industry’s costs to implement the data retention scheme. The organisation has called on the government to commit to a top up if there is a significant shortfall in funds once costs have been determined. The latest fund allocation is less than half the amount the government estimated when the data retention bill was originally presented to parliament, the Internet Society said. The Internet Society and Communications Alliance are already advising the department on how the requirements will impact ISPs. Last month, chief executives of major telecommunications companies called on the government to provide clarity on the financial contribution it would make towards implementing the data retention scheme. They noted that the government had indicated it would make a ‘substantial contribution’ to these costs which might exceed $300 million. The Internet Society and Communications Alliance have advised the Attorney General’s Department that the government has greatly underestimated the work involved in rolling out the scheme. “Therefore, we believe it’s too early to be capping the amount of money allocated to the industry’s cost recovery,” the Internet Society said. If there is a funding shortfall, the ISP and telecommunications industry will have to underwrite the difference and this will be passed onto consumers through increased Internet fees, the organisation said. “The government’s original cost estimate was not based on widespread industry consultation and the Internet Society is concerned that the costs have been significantly underestimated, especially in respect to small and medium sized ISPs that don’t have the resources to undertake the work in-house and therefore will be required to pay for external assistance.” In a worst case scenario, the costs associated with implementing the data retention scheme could force some ISPs out of business, the Internet Society said. Follow CIO Australia on Twitter and Like us on Facebook… Twitter: @CIO_Australia, Facebook: CIO Australia, or take part in the CIO conversation on LinkedIn: CIO Australia Follow Byron Connolly on Twitter:@ByronConnolly Related content feature 13 essential skills for accelerating digital transformation IT leaders too often find themselves behind on business-critical transformation efforts due to gaps in the technical, leadership, and business skills necessary to execute and drive change. By Stephanie Overby Jun 05, 2023 12 mins Digital Transformation IT Skills case study Merck Life Sciences banks on RPA to streamline regulatory compliance Automated bots assisted in compliance, thereby enabling the company to increase revenue and save precious human hours, freeing up staff for higher-level tasks. By Yashvendra Singh Jun 05, 2023 5 mins Digital Transformation Robotic Process Automation tip 3 things CIOs must do now to accurately hit net-zero targets More than a third of the world’s largest companies are making their net-zero targets public, yet nearly all will fail to hit them if they don’t double the pace of emissions reduction by 2030. This puts leading executives, CIOs in particul By Diana Bersohn and Mauricio Bermudez-Neubauer Jun 05, 2023 5 mins CIO Accenture Emerging Technology feature Ecco come l’automazione della CSPM può migliorare la sicurezza del cloud Le funzionalità di automazione delle piattaforme che gestiscono il profilo di sicurezza sul cloud possono accelerare i processi di monitoraggio, ridurre i rischi relativi a tutti i livelli di security e di conformità. By Enoch Anbu Arasu Ponnuswamy Jun 04, 2023 5 mins Cloud Security Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe