Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Hansard source

In the hope of getting answers to some questions out of this process, I note that the government has shown a willingness to support the rollout of a fibre-to-the-node broadband network in the five biggest Australian capital cities whilst at the same time it is arguing that the rest of the country should make do with an undefined mix of technologies. Can the minister confirm the value of subsidies for satellite and wireless broadband in rural and regional Australia? Has analysis been undertaken to assess the cost of investing in fibre infrastructure to deliver true parity of service to rural areas? What is the difference in cost between providing fibre, satellite and wireless broadband infrastructure to rural areas? If a fibre-to-the-node network is able to provide broadband speeds 50 times greater than wireless networks in rural and regional Australia, does the minister believe this constitutes parity of service?

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