Budget Review 2022–23 Index
Elliott King
The 2022–23 Budget contains a range of measures that respond
to the 2021
Regional telecommunications review (Hartsuyker Review). The Hartsuyker
Review is the fifth statutory review of regional telecommunications (p. 14). The
review considered access, reliability, and equity of telecommunication services
in regional, rural and remote Australia, particularly issues posed by poor
telecommunications services and the ability of regional Australians to engage
in the digital economy.
Regional Telecommunications Review
recommendations
The Hartsuyker
Review made 16 findings about the coordination of investment in
infrastructure and service delivery, and the reliability and resilience of
these services—particularly during natural disasters. It also considered the suitability
of existing services to meet data demands, and the complexities faced by
consumers attempting to address their service issues. To address the findings the
Hartsuyker Review (pp. 11–13) made 12 recommendations:
- adoption of a longer-term
strategic approach to regional digital infrastructure and skills
- increase government
investment in regional connectivity
- implement a
regional telecommunications resilience fund
- trial emerging
connectivity technologies
- build
connectivity literacy and digital capability among regional users
- enhance NBN Co’s
regional fixed wireless and Sky Muster services
- implement and
enforce new performance and reliability standards for wholesale and retail
services
- continue but
reform existing universal services for the future
- improve consumer
information about mobile services including coverage and performance
- encourage shared network access
and innovative funding for mobile in regional areas
- focus on the digital needs of
Indigenous communities
- improve affordability for
vulnerable groups in regional areas.
Budget response to the Hartsuyker Review
The 2022–23 Budget has allocated $1.3 billion to investment
in telecommunications infrastructure over 6 years from 2022–23 (Budget
measures: budget paper no. 2: 2022–23, p. 134). This package of funding
includes:
- $811.8 million over 5 years to the Department of Infrastructure,
Transport, Regional Development and Communications (DITRDC) ‘to expand mobile
coverage, connectivity, resilience and affordability in regional Australia’
- $480.0 million in the 2021–22 financial year for NBN Co to
upgrade its fixed wireless and satellite networks
- $1.8 million in 2022–23 to the Australian Competition and
Consumer Commission (ACCC) to conduct a review of mobile tower access fees.
Connecting Regional Australia
The $811.8 million funding for DITRDC is identified in the Regional
ministerial budget statement (RMBS) as the Connecting Regional
Australia (CRA) initiative (p. 230). The CRA is primarily intended to build on
the Mobile
Black Spot Program, Regional
Connectivity Programs and Regional
Tech Hub initiatives (RMBS, pp. 230–31). The Government’s
response to the Hartsuyker Review explains that the CRA will be used to ‘target
six main streams, but will operate as a dynamic fund with the ability to
redirect funds between streams to reflect priorities’ (p. 9).
The Government’s response (p. 9) also indicates that the 6 key
streams are aimed at:
- expanding open access mobile coverage, including on major
transport routes and to adjacent residences, businesses and tourist hotspots
- targeted investment to address specific needs, such as improving
voice, broadband, mobile, business and backhaul services where required
- improving the resilience of infrastructure
- emerging technology trials
- improving Indigenous connectivity
- improving affordability.
Moreover, the CRA is listed in the Government’s
response as either the mechanism, or a possible mechanism, to respond to recommendations
2–6 and 10–12, inclusive.
In line with these recommendations, the Government
has earmarked CRA funding for certain purposes:
- $418 million ‘for an estimated 8,000 kilometres of new open access
mobile coverage’ (Recommendation 2)
- $196.4 million ‘for other place-based and targeted projects’
(Recommendation 2)
- $106 million for ‘improving the resilience of
telecommunications network infrastructure’, including preparation for emergency
events (Recommendation 3)
- $5 million to fund ‘innovation trials to validate the
value and reliability of new technology’ to address regional communication
issues (Recommendation 4)
- additional funding for the Regional Tech Hub initiative
(Recommendation 5), which the RMBS (p. 253) identifies as $5 million
over 5 years
- $30 million to address affordability issues for low-income and
income support recipient consumers in regional Australia (Recommendation 12).
However, funding may be transferred between the streams to ‘reflect
priorities’ (p. 9). The earmarked items account for around $760 million of
the $811.8 million available under the CRA.
In recommendations 6, 10 and 11 of the Hartsuyker Review, the
CRA is flagged as a potential funding mechanism for further expansion of fixed
wireless infrastructure, funding operational and maintenance costs for shared
access mobile infrastructure, and community Indigenous digital inclusion
programs where funding is not otherwise available. Assuming the earmarked allocations
are fixed, there is around $51 million over the 6 years in unallocated funds that
could be used for these purposes.
NBN upgrade
The NBN Co upgrade implements Recommendation 6 of the Hartsuyker
Review (p. 12). It is intended to extend NBN Co’s fixed wireless coverage to an
additional 120,000 premises and improve regional and peri-urban connectivity (RMBS,
p. 231). When the Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure and the
Arts announced
this initiative prior to the Budget, he outlined that the measure partially
funds the $750 million upgrade, with the remaining $270 million to be contributed
by NBN Co.
ACCC review of access fees
The ACCC review of access fees forms part of the Government’s
response to Recommendation 10 of the Hartsuyker Review. Specifically, that
‘preference is given to Government funded mobile infrastructure providing
shared network access’ (p. 14).
Other responses
Other
recommendations which have been agreed to and addressed in the Budget include:
- Recommendation 6: the new Cell Broadcast National Messaging System
(CBNMS), which appears as a measure in the Disaster Support package; however,
its financial impact is ‘not for publication’ (nfp) due to commercial-in-confidence
considerations (Budget paper no. 2, p. 158; see also RMBS, p. 232).
- Recommendation 3: the provision of $4.8 million in 2022–23 to
extend the Mobile Network Hardening Program (Budget paper no. 2, p. 134).
However, it is unclear if this is in addition to the $10.9 million announced
on 5 March 2022.
As the CBNMS is an ‘nfp’ item, the cost of the CBNMS is likely
accounted for in the contingency reserve for decisions taken but not yet
announced (Budget
strategy and outlook: budget paper no. 1: 2022–23, p. 173).
Stakeholder views
Stakeholders and commentators have generally responded
positively to the Government’s budget measures and responses to the review.
ABC journalist Matt Wordsworth drew
a connection between the announcement of measures to address mobile
blackspots, and residents’ recent experiences in the Queensland and NSW floods.
The National
Farmers Federation ‘welcomed’ the Government’s response to the Hartsuyker Review
and the measures proposed in the Budget.
Conversely, coverage by online news site ITNews
highlighted perceived shortfalls in the Government’s response to the Hartsuyker
Review, with
one article claiming:
While it committed $1.3 billion over six years to upgrade
non-metro telecommunications, most of the remaining actions remain stalled and
contingent on further reviews and consultations.
Another ITNews article claimed that inaction by the
Government on subsidising NBN Co service fees for low-income households was a failure
of the response measures.
All online articles accessed April 2022
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