Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy

Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

DEPUTY LEADER OF THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SENATE

ADSL 2+ Broadband Announcement

Wednesday, 6 February 2008

I would like to begin by congratulating Telstra for making this important announcement today.

Ensuring Australian homes and businesses have access to high speed broadband services is a high priority of the Labor Government, as demonstrated by the attendance of the Prime Minister today.

I am pleased that the new Government was able to assure Telstra that the necessary regulatory certainty exists for it to make the decision to enable so many new exchanges.

And as a result many Australians will be able to experience improved broadband services in a very short space of time.

Telstra approached my office after the Federal election last November indicating that it would be willing to make this commitment to enable new exchanges with ADSL 2+ broadband services, as long as there was an appropriate level of regulatory certainty.

As the responsibility for administering the telecommunications access regime rightly rests with the ACCC, I sought their advice on this matter.

The Chairman of the ACCC, Mr Graeme Samuel, advised me that the ACCC has made a number of consistent public statements over time relating to the regulation of wholesale access to ADSL services.

As a result of Mr Samuel's advice I concluded that there is a high degree of regulatory certainty in relation to the ACCC's approach to wholesale ADSL2+ services.

I have written to Telstra expressing my position, acknowledging that I agree with the ACCC's stance.

I am delighted that I could provide this assurance to Telstra, and that as a result a large number of Australian homes and businesses will have access to improved broadband services.

Today's announcement shows that the Government is prepared to work constructively with Telstra, and indeed the rest of the telecommunications industry, to facilitate outcomes that ultimately benefit the Australian people.

There is no doubt that Telstra's decision to expand its ADSL2+ network will benefit the national interest and deliver significant economic and social benefits to those Australian consumers who cannot currently access high speed broadband.

Australia will benefit from investment, innovation and competition in broadband and telecommunications, and this decision by Telstra is a prime example.

This rollout of ADSL2+ to Telstra exchanges is a major step forward in making high-speed broadband accessible to a significant part of the Australian population.

However, I am sure that Telstra would be the first to agree that the expansion of its ADSL2+ network will not meet the needs of all Australians.

Technical issues, such as the distance people live from a telephone exchange will affect broadband connection speeds.

That is why the Australian Government is committed to the National Broadband Network that will deliver fibre to the node technology to 98% of Australian homes and businesses, enabling access to broadband services with minimum connection speeds of 12 megabits per second.

I look forward to working with the telecommunications industry to achieve this outcome.

Meanwhile, I would like to finish by once again congratulating Telstra for making this announcement today, which is without a doubt a significant broadband milestone.