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

Thank you for the generous introduction to your question, Senator. As has been stated on many occasions, under the agreement that the government reached with Telstra last year we will match the footprint, both underground and overhead, of the Telstra existing network. We have just recently seen Cyclone Yasi come through Queensland and affect Townsville, and fortunately for all there was minimal loss of life. In terms of the National Broadband Network build in Townsville, we have seen minimal disruption to the network.

The relative merits of fibre versus copper are fairly well known. Fibre is clearly superior in resisting water and floods, so in terms of the argument as to what is going to last longer—fibre in the ground, fibre hanging or copper—clearly fibre is superior. For those who continue to not keep up with the technology debate, fibre connects every single mobile phone tower. A wireless system does not work on the basis that a phone call goes from my phone and it flies all the way through the air to your phone, wherever you are standing in the country. It actually goes to the nearest tower, and then it is sucked down into the ground and, guess what, it is transmitted along a piece of fibre all the way to the phone tower nearest to you, and it comes up there and then gets transmitted. (Time expired)