Communications & the Arts

NBN Co - Training facilities and modelling

Estimates Transcripts | Spokesperson Scott Ludlam
Friday 27th August 2010, 2:45pm

Senator Ludlam asked:
When do you expect to have the modelling finished?

Answer:

NBN Co expects to have some preliminary data collection and modelling available by end July
2010 but this data will then need careful interrogation and scenario testing before we can accept it
as fit for purpose. This may take a further several months to complete.


Budget Estimates Hearings May 2010 Question 120

NBN Co - Carbon footprints power issue for wireless vs fibre networks

Estimates Transcripts | Spokesperson Scott Ludlam
Friday 27th August 2010, 2:36pm

Senator Ludlam asked:

Would you provide the committee with your favourite one or two referenced works, on notice?

Answer:

A useful reference work is FTTH-The Green Access Technology by Robert Ayre, Jayant Baliga
and Rod Tucker from the ARC Special Research Centre for Ultra-Broadband Information
Networks at the University of Melbourne. The paper compares wireless (ie. WiMAX) v. Fibre
(FTTN, HFC, Pt/Pt, GPON) power consumption (and hence carbon footprint if non-renewable
energy sources are used). It was presented at the 2009 FTTH Council conference in Melbourne
about twelve months ago.



 

 Answers to Senate Estimates Questions on Notice Budget Estimates Hearings May 2010  Question No: 121


 


 

National Broadband Network (NBN Co) modelling and training facilities

Estimates Transcripts | Spokesperson Scott Ludlam
Friday 27th August 2010, 2:32pm

When do you expect to have the modelling finished?

Answer:

NBN Co expects to have some preliminary data collection and modelling available by end July
2010 but this data will then need careful interrogation and scenario testing before we can accept it
as fit for purpose. This may take a further several months to complete.


Answer to Senate Estimates Questions on Notice Budget Estimates Hearings May 2010, Question No. 120

ABC - Audio description trial

Estimates Transcripts | Spokesperson Scott Ludlam
Friday 27th August 2010, 2:05pm

Senator Ludlam asked:
Could you provide details as to how the ABC would fund an audio description trial?

Answer:

As noted in the ABC's submission to the Department of Broadband, Communications and the
Digital Economy's Discussion Report on Access to Electronic Media for the Hearing and Vision
Impaired, the ABC is willing to further investigate the feasibility of an audio description (AD)
trial.

ABC - Digital equipment costs

Estimates Transcripts | Spokesperson Scott Ludlam
Friday 27th August 2010, 2:00pm

A vibrant future for performing arts

Media Release | Spokesperson Christine Milne
Thursday 12th August 2010, 10:13am

The Australian Greens are today launching a policy platform to help ensure a vibrant future for the performing arts in Australia.

The platform includes grants programs for innovation in the arts and for touring domestically and globally, policies to support artists through periods of unpredictable work, and a commitment to begin political engagement with the challenge of cleaning up copyright law.

SBS Online streaming service and audience share

Estimates Transcripts
Friday 16th July 2010, 12:47pm

Senator Ludlam asked:

Can you provide some sense of audience share, the break-up between your online audience of people who are not browsing but actually watching one of your titles as opposed to those watching on TV?

Answer:

SBS's online video viewers (unique browsers who watch a video) currently number around 342,000 browsers, approximately a third of SBS's overall online audience of 1,086,000 unique browsers (April 2010). Total number of online video views for April 2010 was 2,503,000. (Nielsen NetRatings SiteCensus.)

SBS's total television audience reach (SBS ONE/SBS TWO) in April 2010 was 8.7 million viewers in the metropolitan markets and 976,000 in regional areas. (OzTAM/RegTAM - 24 hour, 5 minute consecutive reach.)

SBS online streaming service - an equivalent of iView on the cards?

Estimates Transcripts
Friday 16th July 2010, 12:41pm

Senator Ludlam asked:

Can you provide us with an update of your online streaming service, particularly now ABC has begun captioning its iView service? Does SBS have similar intentions and how broad they are?

Answer:

SBS is currently providing about 80 per cent of its prime-time television programming (full program versions) online each week, subject to rights clearance. The SBS website also carries short form video content produced by SBS's news and current affairs and sport staff.

SBS's online video operation consists of a small video team preparing the content each day. SBS's video systems are not currently integrated with SBS's TV broadcast systems (including rights management and captioning), resulting in a heavily manual operation in getting material online.

During 2010/2011 SBS will make small upgrades to its video system to improve the user experience, as well as scoping how to improve and integrate the workflow. This will include investigating an upgrade to SBS's online video systems to enable SBS to convert the closed captions files created for SBS's English language television programs for use online. Non-English language programs made available on the SBS website as part of SBS's catch-up service are transmitted with subtitles (open captions). Transcripts of all SBS-produced news and current affairs programs are also available on the SBS website.

SBS is committed to making its services accessible to all Australians, including making more of its programming available online with closed captions.


Budget Estimates Hearings May 2010
Special Broadcasting Service Corporation

Tabling of the final report of the National Broadband Network select committee

Speech | Spokesperson Scott Ludlam
Thursday 17th June 2010, 1:27pm

Senator LUDLAM (Western Australia) (9.57 am)-This is the final report of the National Broadband Network select committee, which was set up shortly before I arrived here. In the months between the coalition losing the 2007 election and losing absolute control of the numbers in the Senate, they established a number of select committees in order to prosecute a number of issues including this one, the National Broadband Network.

Regulating telco facilities

Question | Spokesperson Scott Ludlam
Wednesday 16th June 2010, 9:30am

Telecommunications
(Question No. 2785)

Senator Ludlam asked the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, upon notice, on 19 April 2010:

What is the: (a) number; and (b) location, of places where a telecommunications carrier has installed a low-impact telecommunications facility on a residential building, i.e. a single standalone house or a multiple unit dwelling, which requires notification to the owner or owners via a land access and activity notice under Schedule 3 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 and the Telecommunications Code of Practice 1997.