Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question:

The Panel of Experts was appointed by the Government in April 2008 to assess proposals received by the Commonwealth in response to the Request for Proposals (RFP) to rollout and operate a National Broadband Network for Australia and provide a report to the Minister. Following an extensive assessment process, the Panel of Experts advised the Government that none of the national proposals offered value for money. Instead, the Panel of Experts encouraged the government to invest in fibre technology, supplemented by next-generation wireless and satellite technologies, however, it did not consider costings for such a network. Preliminary costing was carried out by government agencies, drawing on advice from a range of sources including technical advisers who have extensive expertise in the telecommunications market. Detailed costing was undertaken in the course of the NBN Implementation Study.

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