The following is an extract from Senate Hansard in relation to questions asked by Senator Joyce.

CHAIR—Senator Joyce, do you have any questions?
Senator JOYCE—Yes. It is good to see that Mr Trujillo is in Barcelona; obviously the bull season must be in full swing. We will have to put on a few bullfights at Manuka oval to entice him back! What is the best
megabit download speed currently available commercially on 3G GSM?

Mr Jennings—It would be in the order of 200 to 300 kilobits per second. That is in Australia. In the United States it would be around 500 kilobits per second. When we launch our network we expect it to average
between 550 kilobits per second and 1.1 megabits per second.

Senator JOYCE—Why would there be a vast difference between what is currently available in the US—I imagine they are not too far off the mark—and what we are apparently going to get here?

Mr Jennings—Because there are developments in the technology that we and they employ called highspeed downlink packet access which will enable faster data rates over time.

Senator JOYCE—Can you give me the best data download speed of the current CDMA EVDO that is available in Australia?

Mr Jennings—I am talking averages. In all of these things there are what we call peak speeds and average speed. The average speed is what the user actually experiences. On EVDO the average would be somewhere
between 400 and 500 kilobits per second.

Senator JOYCE—There are proponents that say that the CDMA EVDO system has as much current capacity as the 3G GSM system. If the argument is put forward that a development of the 3G GSM system
will give a better download speed, then the same should be said about the CDMA EVDO system: that it has the same propensity to be developed as the 3G GSM network.

Mr Jennings—What I would say is—and I think I know where that question comes from—we are not interested in pushing particular technologies. What we are interested in doing is providing the best answer for all of our customer base, not just the CDMA customers, and we will do that. We will provide the best of both worlds.

Senator JOYCE—With the CDMA network racks, I have heard that you have to replace the whole rack or you put a whole new rack in place—is that correct?

Mr Jennings—That is correct.

Senator JOYCE—What are your intentions with the old CDMA network racks when the 3G GSM network comes into place if that so happens?

Mr Jennings—They will be removed.

Senator JOYCE—Why would you remove them if you have a superior technology that you are putting up the pole? If there are other people prepared to lease it out, wouldn’t you lease it out to somebody else?

Mr Jennings—We need to remove them because in many cases we need the space for expansion of the 3G 850.

Senator JOYCE—So the reason the CDMA network rack will be taken down from current sites is because there is not enough space on those towers for the 3G GSM network as well—is that correct?

Mr Jennings—In many cases, yes.

Senator JOYCE—So what are you going to do with this CDMA network when you remove it? What happens to it then?

Mr Jennings—It has not been determined yet.

Senator JOYCE—So you are not selling it to Vietnam.

Mr Jennings—No, not that I am aware.

Senator JOYCE—It would seem strange that if you have a superior network that you should allow other people to possibly use the old CDMA network and put in the EVDO card. Is this right: there is really not much into putting an EVDO card into the current CDMA network, is there? You have got your 1X card, you put in your EVDO card and you are up and running. It is not terribly complicated, is it?

Mr Jennings—The most complicated and time consuming element of commissioning an EVDO base station is putting in the extra transmission that is needed between the base station and what we call the radio
network controller.

Senator JOYCE—That is not similar technology to what is going to be required for 3G GSM?

Mr Jennings—It will. We will require the same.

Senator JOYCE—Tell me about the history of the CDMA EVDO network in the United States compared to the 3G GSM network and what coverage each of them has.

Mr Jennings—In the United States?

Senator JOYCE—Yes.

Mr Jennings—I could not give you details about that.

Senator JOYCE—Can I put that question on notice about—

Senator CONROY—At the private briefing.

Senator JOYCE—Are you putting anything in your local presence plan about access to mobile coverage and the relationship between mobile coverage in urban and regional areas? Is that going to be in your local
process plan when we finally see it?

Mr Pinel—Perhaps I can pick that up. I am not aware that it is specifically addressed in that plan.

Senator JOYCE—Why would it not be in the local presence plan?

Senator CONROY—Because there is nothing in the local presence plan at all.

Mr Pinel—The local presence plan tends to deal with other matters rather than technology specific issues. It does talk about service and about a range of other matters about Country Wide and Telstra’s presence in regional Australia.

Senator JOYCE—Could I pose the question that mobile coverage and data download speed is a very apt thing to be in the local presence plan? There will be a lot of people very interested in the comparative analysis of what will occur between regional and metropolitan Australia for data download speeds and mobile coverage into the future. Do you think that would be a fair assertion that a lot of people in regional areas would make?

Mr Pinel—Where we are with the local presence plan at this stage is that it is with the minister until, I think, 4 April. We will expect to hear back from the minister about its suitability in due course.

Senator JOYCE—If you had a dispute with the minister about mobile coverage—3G GSM and CDMA—concerning your belief of what is right to be in there and the government’s belief of what is right to be in there,
how would you resolve that? Who would you go to?

Mr Pinel—In terms of the local presence plan?

Senator JOYCE—Yes.

Mr Pinel—The local presence plan is approved or not approved by the minister in due course, and if it is not satisfactory to her she will return it to us with comments. In the lead-up to that local presence plan I should say there was a period of consultation with community and stakeholders that provided us with some guidance, and I have to say the majority of the feedback we got was fairly positive.

Senator JOYCE—This is my final question: do you believe that in the community there are people out there who are competent enough to have an independent view on any dispute between yourself and the
government?

Mr Pinel—If you are talking about the rural communities centre—

Senator JOYCE—No, just anything. Do you believe that there are competent, independent arbiters out
there?

Mr Pinel—I think there are plenty of people who have opinions about communi