Broadband

Mr Fletcher asked:

What sources of revenue will be provided to the Universal Service Obligation company, and what amount of funding will it receive each financial year from

a) NBN Co, and

b) the Government.

Mr Albanese responded:

On 20 June 2010 the Government announced it would provide dedicated funding to USO Co of $50 million per annum for the financial years 2012-13 and 2013-14, and then $100 million per annum thereafter.

The residual costs incurred by USO Co will be met by industry as is currently the case, including by wholesale providers such as NBN Co.

On 22 October 2010 the Minister released the discussion paper 'Implementation of Universal Service Policy for the transition to the National Broadband Network environment', which sought industry and consumer stakeholder input on the arrangements to implement the Government's policy, including the funding arrangements for USO Co. The discussion paper raised a number of matters on which feedback was sought, including provisions to expand the scope of possible funding sources to support the delivery of the Universal Service Obligation if required.