Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

In one word, and then I will explain why, the answer very simply is no. Let me explain to you the laws of physics. HFC is like wireless in a pipe. The more people who switch on and use HFC cable at the same time the slower the dedicated speeds become. Let us pretend you have a 100 meg speed connection. Unfortunately, with HFC, the words that must always be used because the law requires it are ‘up to 100 meg’. Let us be very clear about this. ‘Up to’ means that as soon as two of you switch it on your speed starts to slow, if three of you switch it on your speed starts to slow more and if a whole street switches it on the speed really starts to slow. With a piece of fibre it is very simple: it is a dedicated connection which has no interference or impact if the person in the next house or the next street turns it on.

The other thing about the DOCSIS 3.0 upgrade of the HFC cable is that it has been configured at 100 megs down and two up. This cannot match a piece of fibre which can have a significantly greater degree of symmetry when it comes to uploads and downloads. So the very simple answer, Senator Macdonald, is no, it cannot, and Telstra themselves, as has been revealed in the agreement, are bringing their broadband customers off the HFC network and across onto the fibre network because ultimately they know that they cannot compete with a dedicated piece of fibre in the same street. That is why this deal is a win-win. It is a win for Telstra shareholders and a win for the broader Australian community because it will take us into the leading edge of world technology capacity, and that is why this deal should be supported by those opposite. It particularly should be supported by those in the bottom corner down there in the National Party, because they are turning their backs on their own voters. They are condemning their— (Time expired)