Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Communications, Senator Fifield. Can the minister outline for the Senate what measures the Turnbull government is taking to enhance consumer experiences with the National Broadband Network?

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order on my left! Senator Carr! Senator Cameron! Can we at least hear the minister begin an answer before the interjections start?

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Smith, for your ongoing interest in the NBN. I will just quickly touch on Senator Smith's home state of Western Australia. The rollout is full steam ahead in WA, with over 70 per cent of premises in the west being able to connect to the network and close to 400,000 premises having an active service—a far cry from what was bequeathed to us by those opposite when they left office.

Improving the NBN consumer experience is a key priority for the government, and we have taken action. Through the Australian Communications and Media Authority, this government is putting in place tougher consumer protections for households and businesses switching to the NBN. Telco customers do deserve to have their complaints dealt with quickly and effectively, and these new rules will specify how complaints must be managed, including time frames for response and resolution. Importantly, they will help address the handballing of complaints between telcos and the NBN.

I'm pleased to let you know that in coming months further requirements will be placed on retailers to make sure that services are confirmed as working following an installation. Also the risk of being left without any fixed-line service will be reduced as retailers will be required to reconnect a home or business to their old service if the NBN isn't available straightaway for any reason.

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We're going to put the phone back on.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Carr!

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well done!

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Carr!

Senator Kim Carr interjecting—

Senator Carr!

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government is working with retailers, the NBN, ACMA and the ACCC to make sure that the customer experience is more seamless.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask senators when they're called to order to at least pause before their next interjection. Senator Smith, a supplementary question.

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister update the Senate on any other measures that will improve the quality of service that consumers can expect from the National Broadband Network?

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last year the government took action on a range of fronts to improve the consumer experience. I'll just list a few of the measures that are now in effect. Firstly, the ACCC has kicked off its Monitoring Broadband Australia program to independently test and publicly report on speeds being experienced by broadband consumers. Additionally, the ACCC advice to retailers on how they should advertise NBN broadband speeds has had a dramatic and immediate impact. All retailers are now including typical peak-hour speeds in their advertising and marketing materials. NBN is also now publishing a key performance report on its website. This information includes installations completed right the first time, appointments met, network congestion measures and monthly rollout progress. We are having an enhanced consumer experience and enhanced transparency, which can only be good for consumers.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Smith, a final supplementary question.

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister outline what impact the new National Broadband Network pricing structure has had on the take-up of superfast broadband?

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

NBN's new pricing structure has discounted the cost of capacity and made the 50-megabit speed tier more affordable. This has resulted in a dramatic reduction in network congestion and much greater take-up of the higher speed services. NBN analysis shows that congestion has fallen from an average of more than four hours a week down to less than 15 minutes per week. That means that superfast speeds are available even through the peak evening hours across the network. Since December last year, more than 750,000 NBN users have moved up to the 50-megabit plan or been connected to fast broadband for the first time at that speed tier.

Most major retailers have responded very positively to NBN's pricing changes by passing on the discounts to their customers. As a consequence we've seen a substantial increase in the proportion of users taking up the 50-megabit service. For these NBN users, their internet speeds are around five times as fast as the pre-NBN ADSL network.