Wed, 2nd April 2008

Bush the victim of Conroy's OPEL cull

The Hon Bruce Billson MP
Shadow Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

The people of rural, regional and remote Australia have every reason to be deeply concerned and disappointed about reports today that the Labor Government has cancelled contracts for the OPEL project which was designed to deliver high speed broadband services to the most disadvantaged parts of the country.

By contrast Labor has proposed a vague, city-centric fibre broadband network, with no detail or explanation on how this network will deliver high-speed services to remote Australia.

The OPEL network was to utilise a combination of technologies, including state-of-the-art WiMAX, fibre backhaul to deliver broadband services over 638,000 square kilometres.

The previous federal government had committed $958 million in public funds towards the project as part of a comprehensive plan to ensure that all Australians, regardless of where they live, have access to reliable and affordable high-speed broadband services.

OPEL partners Futuris and Optus have told the ASX that the Rudd Government cancelled the agreement because the plan did not satisfy contract conditions.

However, the joint vetureres maintain "that all conditions precedent to the funding agreement have been satisifed".

Optus chief Paul O'Sullivan reportedly said at the telco's third-quarter earnings presentation in February that the $958 million in OPEL funding was expected to arrive by the end of March.

By its very nature Labor's planned fibre-to-the-node broadband network, will result in the duplication of services in and around our capital cities and on the Gold Coast and there has been no word on how the plan will deliver to the people of the bush.

This lack of clarity and contempt for the people of rural, regional and remote Australia is all the more disturbing in light of the termination of the OPEL contract.

It comes at a time when Labor is moving to raid the $2 billion Communications Fund to help buy its way out if its broadband muddle; the fund estbalished by the former government to address telecommunications needs of the bush in perpetuity.

Interestingly, Telstra has also amped up its anti-OPEL rhetoric.

This scandalous redirection of public funding away from areas of service disadvantage demands a full and frank explanation from Broadband Minister Stephen Conroy.

In typical fashion his office this morning was declining to comment.

OPEL QUESTIONS CONROY MUST ANSWER

• The OPEL partners strongly dispute the advice Senator Conroy received from his department, that the network would cover only 72 per cent of identified under serviced premises; given his history of criticising the advice of his department, will he release the OPEL and departmental coverage data and have it independently compared and verified?
• What is Senator Conroy's alternative plan for the 900,000 premises which were set to benefit under the OPEL project and when will Labor divulge such a plan, commit to delivery dates and detail implementation strategies?
• What is Labor’s plan to compensate consumers, internet service providers and wholesalers denied access to retail, wholesale and backhaul services as a result of cancelling the OPEL contract?
• Why did Senator Conroy indicate as late as last Friday that he planned to honour the OPEL contract?
• Given that the OPEL network was scheduled to be completed in 2009, Senator Conroy must explain what role his vague, fibre-to-the node plan will play in delivering fast broadband services to the people of rural, regional and remote Australia in 2009, when his network is not scheduled to be completed until 2014 at the earliest.
• What impact does this decision have on Labor’s so called ‘education revolution’ and how many laptops will be provided to students in schools that have no access to fast and affordable broadband services as a result of OPEL’s scrapping?
• Does this decision mean that a rural student starting high school this year and in need of fast broadband services, could finish high school in 2014 before access to fast broadband is provided?
• Why should these students be deprived of access to essential technology until 2014 at the earliest, when OPEL could have delivered services to them as early as next year?
• Will Senator Conroy commit to increased ‘new funding’ for subsidy schemes to run until at least 2014 or until such a time that 98 per cent of Australians have standard, affordable access to high speed broadband?
• As a result of this decision Senator Conroy is promising to deliver fast broadband services, via fibre to the node, to 98 per cent of the Australian population regardless of where they live.
• What will the decision to cancel the OPEL contract cost taxpayers in terms of possible compensation and court challenges?
• Won’t the roll out of a new fibre to the node network in and around capital cities and on the Gold Coast under Labor’s plan duplicate existing services in those areas?
• Can Senator Conroy guarantee that the most under serviced areas in relation to broadband access will be among the first to benefit from his fibre to the node plan?