Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Communications. Will the minister update the House on the progress of the NBN's fixed wireless network? Why is it vitally important to rural and regional Australia to get the rollout back on track?

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. Australians have always had to cope with the tyranny of distance. It is a vast continent and South Australia alone is a vast state. The honourable member's seat is the largest electorate in South Australia, representing most of the state. His constituents know very well—

Mr Champion interjecting—

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Wakefield has been warned. One more utterance and he is gone.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

the problems of isolation that only modern telecommunications can resolve. When the South Australian government, back in 1870, decided to build the Overland Telegraph, they completed it in two years. The federal Labor government that preceded us announced in 2009 that they were starting construction on their broadband project. Indeed, the member for Adelaide announced that connectivity was imminent in her electorate, in Prospect. She said that part was next in line for the NBN. That was in 2010, and I can tell the honourable member that that particular precinct will be switched on in a few months. That has taken four years. At the time of the election, there was not one fixed wireless tower operative in South Australia—not one. Fixed wireless is absolutely vital because that is the technology that enables us to service the areas outside of the big cities where a fixed line solution is not viable, and of course, in addition to that, there is the satellite.

The remarkable thing about the Labor fixed wireless project was not only did they dramatically underestimate the number of towers and premises that would need to be covered—in fact, the NBN has calculated it will need nearly twice as many towers as the Labor government had estimated—but, more importantly, there were 80,000 premises in areas which had no spectrum at all. What was it going to be powered with? Was it going to be powered, driven by the charisma of the previous minister, Senator Conroy? Or, indeed, could it have been powered by the charm of the member for Grayndler? Who knows what sort of Conrovian physics would be able to allow new technologies?

Let me say that we have already in South Australia activated the first five towers, serving over 1,000 premises. Nationally, the size of the fixed wireless network has increased by 130 per cent since the election and the number of customers using it and paying for it—a focus from our part, not the previous government—has increased by sixfold to 15,000. Last month alone, the NBN started construction on fixed wireless sites in 43 locations. We are getting on with the job.