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Tuesday, 8 May 2012
Page: 4210

Broadband

(Question No. 833)

Mr Truss asked the Minister representing the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, in writing, on 9 February 2012:

In respect of the Minister's answer to question in writing No. 45 (House Hansard, 10 May 2011, page 3480), in each of the following localities in the electorate division of Wide Bay: (a) Bauple, (b) Cherbourg, (c) Cooloola Cove, (d) Cooran, (e) Cooroy, (f) Goomeri, (g) Gunalda, (h) Gympie, (i) Imbil, (j) Kandanga, (l) Maryborough, (m) Murgon, (n) Noosa, (o) Peregian Beach, (p) Pomona, (q) Rainbow Beach, (r) Tewantin, (s) Tiaro, (t) Tin Can Bay and (u) Widgee, will the Minister provide an update on (i) the planning undertaken for the rollout for the National Broadband Network (NBN), (ii) whether fibre optic services will be available through the NBN to residents and businesses, (iii) the number of houses and businesses that will be offered NBN fibre optic broadband, (iv) the expected actual cost of providing a NBN connection to each household and business, and (v) when the NBN services will be turned on.

Mr Albanese: The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question:

(1) Planning and construction of the NBN is well underway including in the Wide Bay electorate. Indicative coverage maps published by NBN Co suggest that Cooran, Cooroy, Goomeri, Gympie, Maryborough, Murgon, Pomona, Rainbow Beach and Tin Can Bay are likely to be served by fibre to the premises (FTTP) technology capable of providing speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second.

Tiaro, Kilkivan, Imbil and Cherbourg are likely to be served by next-generation fixed wireless technology which will provide peak download speeds of 12 megabits per second. NBN Co expects higher speeds will become available as technologies improve. All remaining premises will be served by next-generation satellite technologies providing peak download speeds of 12 megabits per second. Current indicative coverage information for Queensland is available at www.nbnco.com.au/our-network. It is important to note that coverage information is indicative only and subject to change.

(ii) Premises covered by the NBN fibre, fixed wireless and satellite technologies include residential and business premises as well as schools and hospitals.

(iii) The precise optic fibre footprint will only be known when NBN Co completes its detailed region by region designs of the network.

(iv) NBN Co will offer a free connection to the network when the NBN is rolled out in each suburb. This includes the standard installation of a network termination device (NTD)--the box which provides connection to the NBN--at the premises of all consenting customers. In some cases charges may apply for non-standard installations.

(v) NBN Co is moving as quickly as practical to roll out the network, including to Wide Bay. However, consistent with any major project of this size and complexity, it is necessary that the planning and design phases are undertaken to ensure that the rollout occurs as efficiently as possible.

As outlined in the 2011-2013 Corporate Plan NBN Co forecasts it will take approximately 9.5 years to build the NBN.

NBN Co has not yet indicated dates for the fibre network rollout in the electorate of Wide Bay. However, on 18 October 2011 NBN Co released its first 12 month national rollout schedule. The schedule was subsequently updated on 15 February 2012 and will be further updated each quarter to include new locations. You can visit the NBN Co website at www.nbnco.com.au for more information on the network rollout.

NBN Co plans to complete the rollout of its fixed-wireless network, including some communities in the Wide Bay electorate, by 2015.

On 1 July 2011, NBN Co launched its Interim Satellite Service (ISS) which offers improved broadband services to homes and small businesses unable to access a metro-comparable broadband service, ahead of the introduction of a long term satellite service solution in 2015.