Additional Comments – Australian Greens
The Telecommunications
Universal Service Management Agency Bill 2011, the Telecommunications
Legislation Amendment (Universal Service Reform) Bill 2011 and the
Telecommunications (Industry Levy) Bill 2011 are the final package of bills
establishing the National Broadband Network (NBN) regulatory framework and are
supported by the Australian Greens.
These Bills create a new
statutory agency to deliver basic voice, payphone and other public interest
telecommunications services at an ongoing cost to the taxpayer of $100 million
per year. The Bills mandate reviews in the future to assess how well the
Universal Service Obligation is being delivered in an NBN world.
The Australian Greens
welcome input to this Senate Inquiry from consumers and end-users who convinced
the Committee on the need for a consumer affairs representative on the
Telecommunications Universal Service Management Agency (TUSMA) board.
The Australian Greens
believe that the Universal Service Obligation needs to be brought into the 21st
Century. In the 21st Century it is not merely voice telephony and
public payphones but also fast data services that are essential.
Australia's National
Broadband Network is one of the most important infrastructure projects this
country has seen. Our network, once established, will bring us closer to the
world and will be the envy of many countries given that 93 per cent of the
population will have fibre coverage to homes, schools and businesses. The
other 7 per cent of Australia's population will have data services
through wireless + satellite.
Given convergence, the
increasing reliance on data services to conduct business and the daily lives of
so many Australians, data services have become an essential service just as much
as the public telephone.
Recommendation 1: That the
Telecommunications Universal Service Management Agency (TUSMA) Bill defines a
minimum standard of high speed data services and mandates TUSMA to deliver it
via fibre to 93 per cent of the population and via wireless and satellite to
the remaining 7 per cent.
Senator Scott Ludlam
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