Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I also rise in support of the report of the Standing Committee on Communications, Information Technology and the Arts entitled Digital television: who’s buying it? This is a very important report about a very important issue—that is, how Australia is to embrace this new technology. I have to confess that before I became a member of the committee and participated in this inquiry I knew very little about digital TV. I certainly knew very little about its interactive power and the potential that this technology has. I am very pleased to speak on this report today. A lot of hard work has gone into it. Around the world digital television is already revolutionising the way in which people handle their media. Viewers are taking far greater control over what they view and how they view it. Modern television users are interacting with their programs, demanding a high level of choice and content in using more media systems simultaneously.

This detailed report, resulting from our inquiry, asks the very important question about how we can best take advantage of the new digital technology in Australia. The broad conclusion of the report is that it is now time for us to get serious about getting digital. Digital television offers clearer, sharper pictures in a widescreen format. It requires less spectrum to broadcast and it also offers opportunities for more channels and additional features such as interactivity and datacasting. Australia is already using digital technology in broadcasting, although only a small number of Australians are actually equipped to view it. This is despite the fact that we have a scheduled switch-off of analog services commencing in some metropolitan areas as early as 2008. Australian broadcasting is changing rapidly and the successful media companies in this context will be those that realise that our viewers want to consume their media in different ways rather than the traditional way of the family gathered around the TV box watching limited scheduled programming.

Extensive research has been conducted by the committee into where Australia is placed right now with digital TV, where we would like to be in the future and how we can make the transition from the analog system as simple and as attractive an opportunity for all Australians. The inquiry also gives us an expert account of Australia’s options and how we can keep pace with international production and broadcasting trends by talking to the major players within the industry, including the ABC, the Australian Film Commission, the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia et cetera.

The inquiry also investigated the impact of the digital TV handover in the UK, the US, Italy and Germany, involving such organisations as the BBC and the US Federal Communications Commission. Public hearings were conducted around the country, and they were important as they provided us with an insight into what needs to be done to increase public awareness of the impending analog switch-off and what needs to be done to stimulate consumer interest in the uptake of digital television.

The committee also compiled submissions from the relevant Australian government ministers, state and territory governments, and local councils from around the country. Considering the take-up rate, it is important for us to ask who is actually buying digital television. The answer is that few Australians have actually been getting on board and, therefore, this low market base has limited the features and programming options that digital television can provide. I am not sure if you aware, Mr Deputy Speaker, but if you were to purchase a set-top box and a digital television now you will find that the various stations have a number of different programs but that they are essentially broadcasting exactly the same thing. This, of course, has limited the appeal of digital television.

The committee has recommended that the Australian government switch off the analog network nationwide on 1 January 2010. Our researchers found that digital TV roll-out is well advanced and includes the major regional broadcasters. It will actually be rolled out ahead of schedule. It is also believed that a definite switch-off date will be enough to stimulate product and retail readiness and allow people access to digital television information to help them make an easy and informed choice. A nationwide switch-off will help ensure competitive pricing, which will benefit Australian families. We are already seeing the market’s competitive pricing driving the cost of set-top boxes down to about $100, and I expect that as demand increases the cost of those set-top boxes will decrease even further.

The target of 2010 provides an adequate time for broadcasters, manufacturers and retailers to plan appropriately. Whilst this date extends the scheduled switch-off in some metropolitan areas by up to two years, this does not pose extended financial burdens on regional broadcasters to continue simulcasting for a prolonged period. The committee has also recommended that allocation and management with the broadcasting spectrum be the subject of an independent study in order to meet the future technology needs of Australia. I think that is particularly important given the rapid pace at which technology continues to change. An independent inquiry can incorporate the question of additional networks, including community broadcasting stations offering a range of programming which could be aimed at specific ethnic groups or specific community groups. The spectrum needs of future technologies, in particular wireless and other emerging technologies, also needs to be taken into account. Higher quality images and sounds, and even more channels, can be broadcast in the same spectrum now used for one analog channel. The Australian Communications and Media Authority states that spectrum is described in economic terms as being a finite, instantly renewable natural resource. When the analog channel is switched off, a substantial amount of spectrum will be returned to the Australian government for future use—and that obviously contains enormous potential for the Australian government to increase the number of choices that are available to Australian consumers. The committee has also recommended that the Australian government remove the programming restrictions on multichannelling the national free-to-air networks as soon as possible and hopefully no later than 1 January 2007.

Research shows that, although there is a commitment to the subscription television sector regarding multichannelling restrictions on commercial broadcasts until 2008, a variety of content and services, such as that which multichannelling can offer, is critical to driving the demand for digital TV. Multichannelling restrictions on the ABC and on SBS have been recommended to be lifted as soon as possible and no later than the beginning of next year. This will free up both networks to establish digital channels and fully compete in a digital TV market: for example, by being able to open up most of the archived ABC and SBS material for viewers. It is a move that will assist in attracting Australian families into making the transition to digital TV before the analog switch-off.

Datacasting is another variation on what can be provided by digital TV and is an example of where, with careful research and investigation, the Australian community will be able to get the most out of digital television. The committee has recommended a review of the current datacasting restrictions to open the way for potential new services. Datacasting is the broadcasting of data over a wide area via radio waves. It most often refers to additional information sent by television stations along with digital TV, such as news, weather, traffic and stock market reports and so on. In lay terms, for those who have watched CNN, it is best illustrated by the tickers moving along the bottom of news broadcasts—it works in a very similar fashion to that.

In its submission to the inquiry, the ACT government stated that such new datacasting services could also include a range of government based information and services, business information and more. Once you turn your mind to it, the possibilities for datacasting really are endless. The Interactive Television Research Institute, based in my home town of Perth, followed this up by saying that, in their opinion, if restrictions on it were relaxed there were exciting possibilities with datacasting. Certainly, the committee’s visit to that institution really opened our eyes to the sorts of services that digital television is capable of. A lot of hard work has gone into this report, and I commend it wholeheartedly to the House.

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