27 February 2014

Federal Member for Hume Angus Taylor said businesses in Hume were the victims of poor telecommunication and needed an NBN (National Broadband Network) that would increase competition and encourage entrepreneurship.

Speaking in Federal Parliament this week, Mr Taylor said: “One business, Choice Seedlings, at Werombi near Camden, is so frustrated they’re thinking of going elsewhere. In the words of the owner Germaine Borg: We are considered one of the biggest players in the vegetable seedling game, yet we are losing business every week due to poor communications.

“Small businesses rely on connectivity and as more businesses move out of Sydney and Canberra into my electorate, the importance of the issue is intensifying,” Mr Taylor said.

“More recently I am getting feedback about congestion, slow download speeds and frequent dropouts on the NBN Interim Satellite Service - and that’s if you were lucky enough to get on the system before it became fully subscribed.

“As we know, there are literally thousands of people who cannot get access to the service, when they were assured by the former Labor government that they could - people like the Dysons, who relocated their educational software business to just outside Goulburn.

“They confirmed that satellite internet was available through the NBN before their move. They had no idea that this service would become fully subscribed. Only after their move, and the remodelling of their premises to support their business, did they discover that they just could not access the service. In desperation and to avoid substantial losses, they have leased new premises and relocated their business to a town centre. They are the victims of the former Labor government's mismanagement.

“Australia has always suffered from the 'tyranny of distance', and as an export focused and outward-looking country we have always been unbelievably innovative in how we have addressed this tyranny.

“Again, there are some smart thinkers out there who are trying to bridge the gaps left by Labor's failed policy. In Harden, the community is establishing infrastructure for fixed wireless across the town and beyond. This is being achieved through a private contractor and coordinated locally, delivering speeds of up to 100 megabits per second or faster, and data transfer within the town is free. The whole service is provided from a container on a hill just outside Harden, and is linked into the Melbourne-Sydney fibre backbone.

“Another business in my electorate, Yless4U, provides fixed wireless services on the outskirts of Canberra and is operated by locals Anne and Anthony Goonan. They saw an opportunity -a gap in services provided - and they jumped in. We need more entrepreneurs like them, and an NBN that accepts and encourages these entrepreneurs.

“Our Government’s plan will solve the real problems for Australian telecommunications.

“It encourages network competition, it is matching technologies to locations and it is prioritised to those parts of Australia that need it most, like my electorate of Hume.”

Speech on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwyJyFbAS-A