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House of Representatives COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Official Committee Hansard HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND THE ARTS Reference: Wireless broadband technologies THURSDAY, 8 AUGUST 2002 SYDNEY BY AUTHORITY OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES INTERNET The Proof and Official Hansard transcripts of Senate committee hearings, some House of Representatives committee hearings and some joint com- mittee hearings are available on the Internet. Some House of Representa- tives committees and some joint committees make available only Official Hansard transcripts. The Internet address is: http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard To search the parliamentary database, go to: http://search.aph.gov.au HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND THE ARTS Thursday, 8 August 2002 Members: Mr Pyne (Chair), Mr Hatton (Deputy Chair), Mr Baldwin, Mr Ciobo, Ms Grierson, Mr Johnson, Mr Pearce, Mr Sercombe, Mr Tanner and Mr Ticehurst Members in attendance: Mr Ciobo, Mr Pyne and Mr Ticehurst Terms of reference for the inquiry: To inquire into and report on the current and potential use of wireless technologies to provide broadband communication services in Australia, including regional Australia, having particular regard to the following: • The current rollout of wireless broadband technologies in Australia and overseas including wireless LAN (using the 802.11 standard), 3G (eg UMTS, W-CDMA), bluetooth, LMDS, MMDS, wireless local loop (WLL) and satellite; • The inter-relationship between the various types of wireless broadband technologies; • The benefits and limitations on the use of wireless broadband technologies compared with cable and copper based broadband delivery platforms; • The potential for wireless broadband technologies to provide a ’last mile’ broadband solution, particularly in rural and regional areas, and to encourage the development and use of broadband content applications; • The effect of the telecommunications regulatory regime, including spectrum regulation, on the development and use of wireless broadband technologies, in particular the Radiocommunications Act (1992) the Telecommunications Act (1997), and Parts XIB and XIC of the Trade Practices Act: • Whether Government should make any changes to the telecommunications regulatory regime to ensure that Australia extracts the maximum economic and social benefits from the use of wireless broadband technologies; and • Likely future national and international trends in the development and use of wireless broadband technologies. WITNESSES BRAY, George Karl Dewitt (Private capacity) ..........................................................................................457 DAVIDSON, Mr Keith Charles, Chief Executive Officer, Norlink Communications Ltd.....................437 LAWRENCE, Mr Keith, Director, Networks and Technology, Austar United Communications ........443 McDONNELL, Mr Mark, Adviser and Member, Australian Telecommunications Users Group........427 MOON, Mr Peter John Anthony, Managing Director, BALTECH Pty Ltd...........................................448 RULE, Mr Ted, Board Director, CKW Wireless Pty Ltd.........................................................................414 SALUJA, Mr Kanwar, Manager, Strategic Planning, CKW Wireless Pty Ltd ......................................414 SCHARBOW, Ms Janet Elizabeth, Project Manager, Norlink Communications Ltd...........................437 SINCLAIR, Mrs Rosemary Anne, Managing Director, Australian Telecommunications Users Group .............................................................................................................................................................427 STEVENS, Mr Brian, Director, Norlink Communications Ltd................................................................437 Thursday, 8 August 2002 REPS CITA 413 Committee met at 9.44 a.m. CHAIR—I declare open this meeting of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. Today the committee will take evidence as part of its inquiry into wireless broadband technologies. The committee is examining current wireless broadband technologies in Australia and overseas and the likely future national and international trends in their development and use. We are looking at the interrelationship of the various types of wireless broadband technologies and examining their benefits and limitations compared with the cable and copper based broadband delivery platforms. The committee is particularly interested to explore the potential for wireless broadband technologies to provide a last mile broadband solution in rural and regional areas— that is, to connect businesses and households which are currently unable to receive broadband services. We are also looking at how wireless technologies can encourage the development and use of broadband content applications. In addition, the committee is examining the effect of the telecommunications regulatory regime, including spectrum regulation, on the development and use of wireless broadband technologies. COMMUNICATIONS, IT AND THE ARTS CITA 414 REPS Thursday, 8 August 2002 [9.45 a.m.] RULE, Mr Ted, Board Director, CKW Wireless Pty Ltd SALUJA, Mr Kanwar, Manager, Strategic Planning, CKW Wireless Pty Ltd CHAIR—It gives me great pleasure to call representatives from CKW Wireless before the committee today. Welcome. Although the committee does not require you to give evidence under oath, I should advise you that hearings are legal proceedings of the parliament and warrant the same respect as proceedings of the House. The giving of false or misleading evidence is a serious matter and may be regarded as a contempt of parliament. Would you like to make some introductory remarks before the committee proceeds to questions? Mr Rule—To give you some background on CKW Wireless, I will basically speak to the brief summary which we sent to you. CKW Wireless is a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of ArrayComm Inc. and is based in Australia. ArrayComm Inc. was incorporated in California in April 1992 and is a leader in smart antenna technology. It has developed and licensed these communications related technologies, which enhance the spectral efficiency and cost effectiveness of voice and data transmissions. ArrayComm Inc. has developed a technology called i-BURST that will deliver low cost, high speed and widely available wireless broadband services to customers, allowing them the freedom to move. CKW Wireless purchased spectrum in the Australian spectrum auctions last year and will be progressively deploying an i-BURST network in all capital cities over the next few years. In June, CKW Wireless announced a consortium agreement with Vodafone, OzEmail, TCI and Crown Castle to deploy phase 1 of this network from October this year. We think that this is very exciting news for us and for Australia. It will be Australia’s first wide area, carrier grade wireless broadband system that offers customers the freedom of mobility. It is also one of the first such systems in the world. CKW Wireless will be a wholesale network operator and a provider of wireless broadband access services. We would like to make a very short statement and then we will answer some questions for you. Twenty years ago people started making telephone calls on the move, rather than being tied to a phone line. In other words, they were free to communicate whenever and from wherever they wanted. This very simple concept of mobility has since created new industries, new technologies and new companies valued in the billions of dollars and all focused on the opportunity of providing wireless voice services to consumers and to businesses alike. It is our view that this simple concept of mobility, when applied to data services, will generate the same radical changes around the world as mobile phone services have. In fact, we believe that the arrival of the Internet into the wireless space will emerge as one of the most significant product cycles of the coming years. We believe this is because there are important and unstoppable drivers underpinning this shift. These are the proliferation of Internet usage across the community and in all aspects of government and business; the rapid increases in computer literacy and the use of wireless services, particularly in the younger generations; the simple convenience of being able to communicate on the move, whether using voice or data services; the growing need for companies and businesses to be able to work remotely in order to COMMUNICATIONS, IT AND THE ARTS Thursday, 8 August 2002 REPS CITA 415 remain competitive and to get the competitive edge; and the increased utility of and demand for hand-held, laptop and other portable services. These underlying customer demands are, in turn, leading to rapid improvements in wireless broadband technologies, as companies seek to leverage and create value from the market opportunities that are available. In other words, the underpinning drivers for wireless broadband services are as much about consumer demand and generational change as they are about underlying technology, capability and evolution. In our view, when customer demand underpins change, that change is always sustainable. In this context there are six summary points we would like to make to your inquiry. Our first point is that wireless broadband and data services, although still in their relative infancy, have the same potential as mobile voice services to change how we communicate and to generate social
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