Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, upon notice, on 13 December 2010:

With reference to analog self-help retransmission towers in remote areas:

(1) Did the department examine the possibility of upgrading self-help facilities in remote areas.

(2) Was a cost benefit analysis undertaken.

(3) What did any examinations or analyses referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) cover and what were their findings.

(4) What are the ongoing maintenance costs associated with satellite service in remote areas.

(5) How do these costs compare with ongoing costs associated with using digital retransmission facilities instead of direct-to-the-home satellite.

(6) (a) Under what circumstances will remote communities be given assistance to upgrade their self-help retransmission towers; and (b) for what assistance would they be eligible.

(7) Given that a number of organisations have publicly called for the Satellite Subsidy Scheme (SSS) to allow for individual household subsidies to be pooled and the money used to upgrade self-help retransmission towers for whole communities, has the department examined this suggestion; if so, what were the department's findings.

(8) How many households would a community need to include before the cost of providing SSS payments exceeded the cost of upgrading retransmission facilities to digital.

(9) How many communities meet or exceed this size amongst those that are to receive digital television via satellite if their retransmission facilities are not converted to digital.

(10) In areas where the size of the community means that it would be more expensive for the Commonwealth to convert retransmission facilities to digital than to pay eligible households SSS payments, what scope is there for local governments to contribute the difference (i.e. to partner with the Commonwealth to cover the cost of converting retransmission facilities).

(11) How would an interested local government body or other local organisation initiate such an arrangement.

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

The answer to the honourable senator's question is as follows:

(1) The Government considered a range of options to provide the full suite of digital television channels to self help viewers, including terrestrial and satellite transmissions.

(2) The Government considers that satellite is an efficient and effective means of delivering digital television to remote communities. Terrestrial self-help retransmission facilities have a number of limitations that do not apply to satellite: they impose on-going, and not always predictable, costs on local communities and councils for their operation and maintenance; they have an inflexible coverage area which cannot accommodate population shifts beyond the area served by the transmitter; and they can be subject to extended outages when there are transmitter faults if licensees have difficulty accessing spare parts and/or experienced technicians, particularly when transmitters are located in isolated or remote areas.

(3) The Government decided to fund a satellite service to provide digital television in signal deficient areas, and has implemented the Satellite Subsidy Scheme to assist people in self help communities cover the cost of moving to satellite if the self help facility is not converted to digital.

(4) The Government will subsidise a large part of the cost of installing VAST equipment by eligible households under the Satellite Subsidy Scheme. Under the Scheme, the direct cost to the household is only around $200-$350 depending on location. This includes remote households currently served by analog self-help services.

Households not eligible for the Scheme subsidy must initially purchase and install equipment, but the ongoing costs are only those arising from any repairs to or replacement of a set top box or satellite dish when and as needed. In return these households will receive 16 channels of digital television plus a news service, a significant improvement over what they would have previously received.

(5) See answer to question (2).

(6) The Government is not providing assistance for communities to upgrade their self-help retransmission towers.

(7) Under the funding arrangements agreed to by the Government for the Satellite Subsidy Scheme, it is not possible to redirect funding from the Scheme for other purposes, such as making payments to licensees to upgrade self-help facilities.

(8), (9), (10), (11) See answer to question (7)