Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Hansard source

I did say that. These are the same people who would have benefited from Telstra’s fibre-to-the-node network—which was what the conversation was all about—which, it is important to remember, would have been rolled out to the most populous parts of five capital cities, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, within five years from the date of commencement. The government’s longstanding policy of encouraging competition in telecommunications has delivered metropolitan consumers a choice of broadband provider and a choice of speeds. At least nine service providers already offer ADSL2+ in over 400 exchanges across metropolitan and some regional areas, and there are plans to extend these services with the installation of another 500 exchanges as competitors see an advantage with Telstra not proceeding with their fibre opportunity.

For the information of the Senate and those listening, service providers offering ADSL2+ include Adam Internet, Amcom, iiNET, Internode, OnTheNet, People Telecom, RIA, TPG and TSN. ADSL2+ and cable networks enable service providers to deliver a rich mix of data services to users, including high-quality video, audio, voice and text. In fact, ADSL2+ is the very technology that Telstra’s fibre network would have delivered to homes in some parts of the five capital cities. But even without a fibre network, the number of Australians with access to ADSL2+ technology could massively increase—and I have heard Senator Lundy say this in estimates—if only Telstra would flick the switch on its equipment and stop capping the speeds of its broadband services. However, as I have said previously, Australians do not necessarily have to wait for Telstra to resolve this matter. Painting a bleak picture of internet speeds is positively misleading. Around four million Australians have already connected to broadband, which is hardly an indictment of the broadband landscape.

That the Labor Party have the gall to attack this government on the provision of telecommunication services in this country is simply astonishing. These are the people who backed a plan just a few years ago to get the Australian taxpayer to pay $5 billion for dial-up internet. Having everybody stuck on very low speeds of dial-up internet would have been nice, wouldn’t it? Their latest fling is to pinch the $2 billion in the Communications Fund. Labor’s policies in this area are non-existent. They are an absolute farce and an absolute disgrace.