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

As I was saying, wireless broadband technology subscriptions saw almost a 90 per cent growth in the six months to June this year. Furthermore, wireless connections now account for 14 per cent of all broadband subscriptions. The ABS statistics released on 22 September show that broadband subscribers continue to choose faster connections. The number of subscribers with download connections of 1.5 megabits per second or greater has increased to 43 per cent of all subscribers, compared to just 36 per cent at the end of December 2007. This demonstrates that Australian consumers have an appetite for faster broadband connections. That is why the Rudd government has committed up to $4.7 billion and will consider regulatory changes to facilitate the rollout of the National Broadband Network that will boost Australia’s productivity. It represents a long overdue investment in our nation’s infrastructure.