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

Again, I thank the senator for her question. I am happy to advise the chamber that on 1 June NBN Co. announced that it entered into a 10-year contract with Ericsson to design, build and operate a 4G fixed-wireless network worth up to $1.1 million. Construction of the fixed-wireless network will commence in December this year and is expected to be completed by 2015. It will deliver peak speeds of at least 12 megabits per second from the middle of next year, ensuring an end-user experience far in excess of what people in rural Australia have been forced to put up with, or would have been forced to put up with, with that dog of an Opel product that those opposite championed for so long.

NBN Co. also announced that it had signed agreements with Optus and IPSTAR worth around $300 million to deliver an interim satellite service to be made available to customers from 1 July, which offers speeds around six times faster. (Time expired)