ACMA study further exposes Conroy's broadband myths

Senator the Hon Nick Minchin
Shadow Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (to 8 December 2009)
Leader of the Opposition in the Senate

A new report by ACMA has revealed that Australian households and businesses are generally satisfied with their current Internet and telecommunications services, further exposing the Labor myth that Australia is a broadband backwater Shadow Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Senator Nick Minchin said today.

“This study, by Senator Stephen Conroy’s own agency, also raises serious questions about the Minister’s sweeping claims of fundamental market failure,” Senator Minchin said.

“The Rudd Government is basing its debt-laden plan to build a $43 billion National Broadband Network on the highly questionable assumption that the overwhelming majority of Australians are deeply dissatisfied with the range of existing services.

“This study suggests the opposite is in fact the case with high levels of satisfaction among business and household Internet users with existing services,” Senator Minchin said.

The study reveals that over three-quarters of Australians are satisfied with their communications services generally, including fixed line and wireless.

It also reveals that 80 per cent of businesses surveyed are satisfied with their Internet services, with more than 75 per cent of household consumers saying their Internet Service Provider was either meeting or exceeding their expectations.

Only 19 per cent of those surveyed said they were likely to change providers in the next 12 months, this is up slightly from 16 per cent in 2007.

The report concludes: “Satisfaction with Internet services are generally high, with most consumers saying their expectations were met and the great majority expressing reluctance to switch ISPs. For those dissatisfied with their internet service, the main reason for dissatisfaction was slow speed, which is in any case likely to improve with the adoption of broadband services increasing compared to dial up.”

“There is no evidence in this ACMA report to justify the Rudd Government risking billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money on NBN Mark II, but what it does do is raise serious doubts about the level of customer demand for it,” Senator Minchin said.

“This latest report comes on the back of a Strategy Analytics survey released last week which rated Australia a credible 11th in the world for household broadband penetration at 72%, which put us ahead of the US, UK, Germany, France and Japan.”

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