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

I thank Senator Bilyk for her ongoing interest in this issue. The Gillard government has always proudly stood firm by our decision to support uniform national wholesale pricing. The desire to see those in the bush pay the same as those in the city is something that we do not just pay lip service to; we are delivering on it. As a policy, this is critical in initially narrowing and ultimately defeating the digital divide experienced by so many in rural and regional Australia. This, I might add, will see 70 per cent of premises in regional and rural Australia connected to fibre.

Just today iiNet, Australia's second largest fixed line internet retailer, released their pricing plans. They are not only competitive with existing offerings in the marketplace but are providing plans and services at speeds that simply would not be possible under the opposition's 20-something failed broadband plans. The CEO of iiNet, Michael Malone, was quoted today as saying:

We have long recognised the power of a ubiquitous open access network to transform our business. The NBN allows us to deliver what we have always stood for: faster, more reliable broadband for less.

Not so long ago, Telstra were retailing their HFC cable at speeds of 100 megabits down and two megabits up, with 200 gigabits of download quota, for $179.95. The threat of entry from the NBN has seen that reduce to $109.95 per month. But compare that with the price that iiNet are now offering. (Time expired)