Notice given 25 November 2011

1480  Senator Macdonald: To ask the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy—

(1) In regard to the National Broadband Network (NBN) rollout:

(a) why has NBN Co dismissed the use of existing teleports in Australia;

(b) why is NBN Co not looking to maximise Australian content;

(c) (i) what orbital slots is NBN Co using, (ii) how did it procure the orbital slots; and (iii) at what cost; and

(d) are the orbital slots fully coordinated with adjacent satellite operators.

(2) In regard to NBN Co satellite services:

(a) how many users is NBN Co intending to serve with the two Ka-band satellites and what is the estimated cost on a per user basis;

(b) can the satellite service be delivered more cost effectively through hosted payloads; if not, why not;

(c) why have senior NBN Co procurement staff stated to industry during discussions that their vision is that NBN Co will become the satellite operator in Australia;

(d) is there an intention to re-create Aussat;

(e) why is NBN Co building a large organisation to procure, design and manage the satellite service when it could be done by specialist organisations;

(f) why has it taken more than 2 years to develop the project;

(g) can the Minister or NBN Co advise if NBN Co will provide government-subsidised satellite services to large multi-national enterprises; and

(h) (i) what is the cost per user for the interim satellite service, (ii) how does this compare to commercially available services, and (iii) can the interim service be scaled with additional leased capacity on other satellites; if not, why not.