LETTER FROM MELBOURNE

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LETTER FROM MELBOURNE 1 AUGUST TO 4 SEPTEMBER VIEWPOINT Broadband Senator the Hon. Helen Coonan Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate Helen Coonan was elected as a Liberal Senator for New South Wales in 1996 and was re-elected in 2001 for a second term. In July 2004 Senator Coonan was appointed to Cabinet as the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, and in 2006 she was appointed Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate. The Minister recently achieved passage of legislation to allow the full privatisation of Telstra. This includes an historic $3.1 billion package of funding – Connect Australia. When the Howard Government was elected in 1996, the telecommunications sector was a near duopoly and the exciting new world of the internet was still an emerging phenomenon. Since 1996, the Howard Government has fundamentally reformed the telecommunications sector, with the introduction of the open competition framework. These reforms were based on the premise that strong infrastructure and service competition produces significant price reductions and greater service choice and flexibility for consumers. We have always understood that a vibrant and efficient telecommunications sector is essential as it underpins productivity and is a key economic enabler. Since then the internet has brought about fundamental changes to our society. It has infiltrated every aspect of our lives from basic communications through to education, business and entertainment. This is why the Government’s new broadband revolution, Australia Connected, is so important as it will deliver unprecedented access to high-speed broadband internet connection for all Australians, regardless of where they live. Australia Connected is the Howard Government’s first-class initiative that will ensure 99 per cent of the population has access to fast affordable broadband. By July 2009, more than 20 million people across Australia will be able to access broadband at minimum speeds of 12 Mbps, an extraordinary 20 to 40 times faster than most people use today. This builds on the Coalition Government’s success to date that has seen more than 4.3 million homes and small businesses connected to broadband since 2001. The centrepiece of Australia Connected is the new network of optic fibre, ADSL2+ exchange upgrades and WiMAX fixed wireless broadband installations across rural and regional Australia to be built by OPEL, a joint venture between Optus and Elders. The Howard Government is contributing a total of $958 million towards the new high speed wholesale network, with OPEL making a commercial contribution of $917 million. Importantly, Australia Connected will be affordable, with consumers in regional and rural areas paying prices comparable to those available in capital cities. In Victoria, 296 new wireless broadband towers and 50 telephone exchanges will be ADSL2+ enabled. For the very remote areas (the last 1 per cent of the population), a subsidised satellite service under the Australian Broadband Guarantee will ensure that all Victorians can access broadband. Ongoing funding for regional and rural consumers has been assured by legislation to protect the $2 billion Communications Fund. This is a critical ‘insurance policy’ for regional and rural Australians, as it will provide a guaranteed income stream of around $400 million every three years to fund continual improvements in telecommunications services. Another major element of Australia Connected is the competitive bids process and enabling legislation that will facilitate the building of a new optic fibre network throughout Melbourne, and major regional centres throughout Victoria, with super-fast speeds at no cost to taxpayers. I am very proud to say that Australia Connected will fill all broadband blackspots in outer metro areas of Melbourne and deliver significant and virtually immediate broadband benefits in other regional areas. In fact, I have spent the past two months travelling across Australia providing full and frank detail about the Government’s landmark broadband rollout. So whilst I am out there providing details about the Government’s rollout, it has been disappointing to see that Labor has shut up shop. It has been more than four months since Labor announced their broadband proposal and they are yet to put out any details other than a mere flimsy press release. Labor’s claim that it can rollout fibre-to-the-node to 98 per cent of the population for $8 billion is irresponsible and plainly misleading. The problem with the Labor proposal is that 98 per cent of the population do not live within 1.5 kilometres of a node or an exchange. Industry experts have estimated that it would actually cost around $20 to $30 billion to achieve what Labor have promised. The truth is that many Victorians would miss out entirely under Labor’s proposal. By contrast, the Government’s new network will use a mix of the latest technologies best suited to the challenging task of delivering broadband services across a vast country where a one size fits all solution would fall a long way short of what is required to meet the needs of all Australians. The Howard Government is committed to ensuring that all Victorians are able to access the high-speed broadband services.
1 AUGUST TO 4 SEPTEMBER LETTER FROM MELBOURNE VIEWPOINT Broadband Stephen Conroy Deputy Opposition Leader in the Senate and Shadow Minister for Communications and Information Technology. Stephen Conroy was appointed as a Senator for Victoria in 1996. Previously, he was an industrial officer and superannuation officer, a ministerial adviser and an electorate officer, in both Victoria and in Canberra. As Shadow Minister, Stephen is committed to the delivery of world class telecommunications infrastructure for all Australians, to competition in the Australian telecommunications sector, and ensuring new regulatory structures deliver on competitive outcomes. As we have seen, the debate surrounding the roll out of broadband services across Australia has dominated media attention over recent months, in the lead up to the federal election. It is now well understood that Australia’s broadband performance is poor: we are ranked only 16th out of 30 countries surveyed by the OECD. Under the Howard Government $5 billion of taxpayers’ money has been wasted on 17 broadband programs, yet Australia still lags a long way behind countries we consider our international peers. Early in the piece Labor understood the vital role of broadband services in ensuring Australia’s social and economic potential. Early on Labor recognised the need to update Australia’s aging telecommunications infrastructure to ensure all Australians have access to significantly improved broadband services. This year, Labor launched its policy for a nationwide broadband network under a Rudd Labor Government, which promises to turn around Australia’s broadband performance. The new network will include a fibre to the node network that will deliver minimum connection speeds that are 40 times faster than today’s average to 98% of Australians. The remaining 2% of Australians will receive a standard of service, which depending on the available technology, will be as close as possible to that provided by the new network. The $8 billion nationwide broadband network will be funded using a public equity injection of up to $4.7 billion, in partnership with the private sector. The network will be open access, ensuring healthy competition in the telecommunications sector, putting downward pressure on consumer prices. Labor’s national Broadband Network will slash telephone bills for small business; enhance services such as teleconferencing, video conferencing and virtual networks; enhance capacity for services such as e-education and e- health; and provide high definition, multi channel and interactive TV services. To deliver the fibre to the node network, Labor will set up a public tender process that best serves the national interest. Parties wanting to tender will be asked to publicise their investment plans, and provide information about how they would make use of the public equity injection. This will ensure the fibre to the node network delivers a minimum connection speeds that are 40 times faster than today’s average to 98% of Australians, and that proposals result in improved broadband services to the remaining 2% of Australians not served by the new network. Labor is investing in a critical piece of national infrastructure. That is why our broadband plan uses a superior technology – fibre to the node. While the Howard Government has also proposed a fibre to the node network, their plan will reach only those living in the inner suburbs of the five major cities. The rest of Australia will have to use the Howard Government’s technology of choice “fixed WiMAX”, which is widely regarded by industry experts as an obsolete technology. Using fixed WiMAX, broadband access will be shared between multiple users, resulting in slower connection speeds. In addition, the government’s broadband proposal suffers from a number of technical issues. Firstly, the Howard Government’s broadband solution will be severely affected by weather conditions and topography – wireless does not transmit through hills, buildings, or anything else that interrupts the line of sight between the transmission tower and the customer. However, the largest problem facing the Howard Government’s broadband proposal is that the consortium OPEL, who have won the tender to deploy the fixed WiMAX network, do not own spectrum in which to broadcast. For this reason spectrum must be shared with other household appliances such as garage doors, cordless phones and microwaves. In addition, there is a severe power limitation placed on transmissions in the shared spectrum. All these issues demonstrate that the broadband coverage from a wireless transmission tower is 5-10 km, rather than the 20 km depicted by the Government’s own maps to show WiMAX coverage. The building of a nationwide broadband network in the 21st century is comparable to the deployment of the railway system in the 19th century. In the same way that the railways changed the Australian way of life over 100 years ago, the impact of broadband on Australia’s future is critical: it is of fundamental importance that we get it right. A poorly thought out broadband plan will not only be waste of tax payers’ money but it will undoubtedly inhibit Australia’s potential. I would like to thank “Letter From Melbourne” for allowing me this opportunity to outline Labor’s nationwide broadband plan.
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