Ross Lightfoot (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is directed to the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator the Hon. Helen Coonan. Will the minister advise the Senate what the government is doing to deliver high-speed internet access in metropolitan black spots? Is the minister aware of any alternative policies?

Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you to Senator Lightfoot for a very pertinent question. I would be delighted to tell those listening how they can get connected to fast internet if they live in a black spot area in a metropolitan area. High-speed internet services, as we know, can simply transform the way in which Australians keep themselves informed, educated and entertained. That is why the government launched the $50 million Metropolitan Broadband Connect program earlier this month. This program will make high-speed internet more accessible for households, small businesses and not-for-profit organisations in metropolitan and outer metropolitan Australia.

Because of the limitations of technologies and particular local factors, there are pockets of major cities where households are not always able to access high-speed internet, and that must indeed be very frustrating. But, as technology presents a problem, so it also presents a solution, and these problems are being systematically overcome. To expedite connection to faster broadband for people living on the fringes of our major cities, the government committed $50 million to encourage telecommunications companies to sign on. Metropolitan Broadband Connect is a demand driven program which will be rolled out in areas where the greatest numbers of people are interested in the service.

I would encourage people in metro areas who are unable to access broadband to register their interest in connecting to broadband on the Metro Broadband Connect demand register on the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts website. The program operates by subsidising internet service providers for each customer they connect to eligible areas. The subsidies are around $500 per customer, and they double to $1,000 per customer if they have been on the demand register for more than six months. To promote investment in new infrastructure, 50 per cent of the funding in any particular year can go directly towards funding the cost of new broadband infrastructure up front. The number of Australians in metropolitan areas who are unable to access broadband has dropped from close to a million three years ago to fewer than 200,000 now, and of course that number is falling fast.

Metropolitan Broadband Connect is just one of the government’s $3.1 billion Connect Australia packages. The government has demonstrated its commitment to quality telecommunications services across Australia with the biggest regional communications package in Australia’s history. The benefits are clearly being felt, with Australia experiencing rapid growth in broadband take-up. During the 12 months to September 2005, the number of broadband subscribers increased 98 per cent, to 2.6 million. This was an increase of 1.6 million subscribers, or 160 per cent, in the 15 months from 30 June 2004. This is being achieved in a competitive environment. Just today, Austar and Soul, for instance, announced they would roll out a wireless broadband network which is expected to pass 750,000 homes in regional Australia by the end of 2007. While Labor fiddles and does nothing on telecommunications, this government is committed to ensuring that all Australians have quality communications, irrespective of where they live.