Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Mayo for her question. Of course, the Morrison government is rolling out the National Broadband Network around Australia. There are 10.7 million premises able to connect and some 6.6 million premises are connected, which is a very interesting contrast to the number that were able to connect when we came to government in 2013. Barely 51,000 premises were able to connect to the NBN in 2013. Now there are 6.6 million premises connected around the country.

An essential feature of the design of the NBN that we inherited from the Labor Party is the mix of technologies—fixed wireless and satellite—and that mix of technologies is deployed according to the needs of the communities that the NBN serves. Everybody gets at least 25 megabits per second, peak speed. The NBN rollout will be completed this year.

The member for Mayo asks me about what is proposed in relation to the areas around the Mylor township—that is, beyond the fixed-line footprint in the township, in the areas which surround the township. It's important to be clear that specific network design decisions are ones for NBN Co. The board and management are required to meet the statement of expectations which has been set for them by the government, but they make the specific decisions, and the majority of premises around the Mylor township are expected to be connected via the Sky Muster satellite service. There will be some who will be connected via fixed wireless through towers at locations such as Echunga North, Littlehampton, Scott Creek and Cherry Gardens. An assessment will be done on a case-by-case basis to determine which premises can be served by those fixed-wireless towers, but the majority of premises are expected to be served through the Sky Muster satellite service. That footprint will be determined relatively soon. NBN Co has committed to keeping you and your office informed, Member for Mayo, and I am advised by NBN that your constituents will be able to place an order for either fixed wireless or satellite well before 30 June this year.

I make the point that the NBN will be completed four years sooner and for $30 billion less of taxpayers' money, thanks to the work that we've done to correct the ramshackle mess we inherited from this hopeless, incompetent lot on the other side.

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