Senate debates
Monday, 10 October 2016
Questions without Notice
Broadband
3:03 pm
Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source
One of the important things when rolling out a national broadband network is that you only get the full national economic benefits once the entire nation has it. So what we as a government have had a laser-like focus on is ensuring that Australians get the NBN as soon as possible. Under our predecessors, the NBN was essentially a failed project. After the best part of six years and $6½ billion, only 51,000 people were paying customers. Contractors had downed tools in four states. As a result of the groundwork put in place by Mr Turnbull when he was the Minister for Communications, the NBN is on track and on budget. NBN as an organisation has met every rollout and financial milestone over the last 10 quarters. Australians will get the NBN—many of them have it already—and they will get it a darn sight sooner under us than under those opposite.
Charlie Schroeder
Posted on 11 Oct 2016 2:01 pm
This is completely wrong. Mitch Fifield has not answered one of my letters or emails, or the emails of other people who have asked: why are there so many outages, so many dropouts and why the hour or often longer for the modem to find a connection?
Because he has no answer. He doesn't know, and isn't listening to the people who do.
It's known the modems are rubbish and flashing the firmware isn't going to fix that.
Many of us are connected, when it's up and running to an inferior system. But the Senator keeps referring not to the efficacy or speed, because it's dodgy as all get out, but that everyone will have this dodgy system on time. Laughable.
Everything else is wrong with it, but it will be in Australian households on time. Some are already shaking their heads and demanding to remain with their old system for as long as possible, rather than get a newer, worse system.