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

(—) (): That is a very genuine question, Senator Madigan. This is an issue that, as I think you know, we tossed up on a number of occasions. The fundamental principle of both satellite and wireless is that the more people who use it at the same time the slower the overall experience is regarding service delivery and speeds for every user. So, to add users reduces the overall capacity and speed for the existing users. When both satellite and wireless were designed, they had been configured for a set number of users. If we were to allow everybody around Buninyong or Ballarat who did not get access to either fibre or wireless in the short term to opt to use the satellite, then it would actually collapse the service. You would not get the speeds that are being promised. It is the same for wireless. If everybody jumped on wireless because they do not want to wait for the satellite or they do not want to wait till fibre is installed, it would destroy the service for the existing users. (Time expired)