153/07
Thursday 20 September 2007

Expert Taskforce calls for industry proposals for new commercial broadband network

Industry can now submit their proposals to roll-out a new high-speed broadband network in Australia’s capital cities and major regional centres, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator the Hon Helen Coonan said.

“I welcome the release of the final guidelines which are non-prescriptive and provide industry with real scope to develop innovative, commercial proposals for assessment as they see fit in a competitive context,” Senator Coonan said.

“Several local and international companies have already expressed interest in participating in this important initiative and they now have the opportunity to prepare formal proposals.

“The Expert Taskforce’s assessment process is one of the key elements of the Australian Government’s Australia Connected initiative and it provides a unique opportunity for industry to develop and submit proposals to secure reasonable regulatory or legislative amendments that can enable a commercial high speed broadband network build.

“Industry proposals should outline price and non-price terms and conditions of access and identify the regulatory conditions required to facilitate a commercial build of the broadband network.
“The Australian Government will then, as necessary, introduce legislation to facilitate the roll-out of the new network infrastructure.

“Importantly, this will be done without the need for taxpayer funding. Both Telstra and the G9 have each issued full page advertisements saying they do not require any taxpayer funds for their proposed fibre-to-the-node networks in capital cities and major regional centres.

“Alternatively Labor proposes to spend $4.7 billion on a similar network to around 75 per cent of the population despite taxpayer funds not being required. What industry players have asked for are changes to the regulatory settings – not billions of dollars in taxpayer funding.

“Taxpayer funding should be reserved for under served areas where the industry is not prepared to invest commercially, such as in rural and regional areas.

“Ironically Labor will leave 3 million Australian households, all in rural and regional areas, stranded without access to high speed broadband and without the regional Communications Fund to provide for any future service upgrades.

“And unlike the Labor Party, we are not in the business of picking a ‘one size fits all’ technology and discarding the rest.

“The final guidelines do not specify that the high speed network infrastructure must be a fibre-to-the-node network.

“It could contain a fibre-to-the-home upgrade path or another alternative high speed broadband platform.

“Following a period of public consultation on the draft guidelines, the Expert Taskforce has made several improvements including extending the timeframe for industry to prepare proposals from four months to five months and providing greater clarity on the Taskforce’s focus and process. Proposals will also be subject to public scrutiny to facilitate public debate on their merits.

“The changes made to the draft Guidelines in response to submissions received demonstrate the openness, transparency and responsiveness of the Expert Taskforce process.”

The Howard Government is committed to a sustainable and competitive telecommunications market that ensures that industry gets a fair return on investments in next generation infrastructure so they will continue to invest in Australia’s future,” Senator Coonan said.

The Guidelines and the Expert Taskforce’s report on its consultations are available at www.dcita.gov.au/Expert_Taskforce.

Media Contact: Frank Peppard 0417 061 969