Senator the Hon Helen Coonan was Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts from 18 July 2004 to 3 December 2007. This site is available for archival purposes only.

Senator Stephen Conroy is the current Minister for the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

42/07

Sunday 29 April 2007

Labor ducks the broadband challenge

The Australian public has once again witnessed the snake oil tactics of Kevin Rudd attempting to sell empty promises and deceiving the public with untrue and misleading claims on broadband, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan said.

“Kevin Rudd’s claim that the Australian Government has gone silent on Labor’s broadband plan means he is not paying attention to the chorus of condemnation about their lack of costings and details, from experts and commentators,” Senator Coonan said.

“Labor had a golden opportunity at their National Conference in Sydney this weekend to provide detail of its sparse broadband proposal and answer the many questions that are being asked, but still we hear nothing,” Senator Coonan said.

“And since the announcement of their plan over a month ago, Labor has had the benefit of many independent analysts telling them they have got it horribly wrong.

“Independent telecommunications companies and analysts from around Australia have slammed Labor’s broadband proposal since it was announced, yet there has been silence from Labor in response,” Senator Coonan said.

Examples of criticisms include:

ABN AMRO declared Labor’s proposal would take the industry “back 20 years to Government provision, gold-plating and restricted rollout and that it failed to “resolve access regulation issues but entrenches them and adds new inefficiencies. (source: ABN AMRO Report 21/3/07)
Telecommunications researcher, Market Clarity said the ALP’s plan was “under-shooting the mark” and that “Nothing in the Labor plan really addresses the backhaul issue. It doesn’t seem to be address getting high-speed pipes into the regions so these access networks actually have something to connect to.” (source: Market Clarity CEO Shara Evans – The Australian 27/3/07)
Professor of Information Economics at Melbourne University, Joshua Gans, conceded the proposal was “overkill” - (source: ABC Radio National Breakfast 22/3/07)
Ross Gittins, the Economics Editor of the Sydney Morning Herald dismissed the plan as “a waste of taxpayers’ money no matter how it is funded” and “a cynical bribe”. (source: SMH Business Day 26/3/07)
Global research firm Ovum predicted Labor’s broadband proposal wont have any impact until after 2010 and will be more than likely bogged down in commercial and competitive wrangles for years. (source: Australian Financial Review 27/3/07)
The Economics Editor of the Australian Financial Review Alan Mitchell said Rudd’s political commitment to the high speed broadband network has been made without any serious evaluation of the likely costs and benefits.” (source: AFR 27/3/07)
Network infrastructure specialist Pipe Networks recently released a ‘conservative’ estimate of the cost of building Labor’s proposal at upwards of $15 to $16 billion – double Labor’s estimate. (source: The Australian 17/4/07)
And telco analyst Market Clarity again recently slammed Labor’s costings as insufficient and their cost estimates lacked the detail required to build “any sort of realistic network cost model. (source The Australian 17/04/07)

Senator Coonan said that the Government has been working very hard to ensure that all Australians have access to high-speed broadband.

“Firstly, we are committed to working with the two current proponents of new national fibre networks in commercial areas, which will occur without the need for taxpayer’s funds.

“Secondly, the Government has committed $600 million towards leveraging investment in a new national high speed network in regional and rural areas, an outcome of which an announcement will be made soon.

“Thirdly, the Government has introduced the $162.5 million Australian Broadband Guarantee - a program that ensures that all Australians, no matter where they live, can have equitable access to broadband.

“The Howard Government’s position is clear. We are committed to giving all Australians access to broadband, regardless of where they live.

“Labor’s proposal is equally clear, they would rather rely on headlines and flawed economics delivering nothing more than a plan that would not reach 100% of the population and will be obsolete if it were ever built.”