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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 1 Hansard (15 February) . . Page.. 248 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

Those companies have for most part made an investment of capital into the enterprise, presumably in proportion to those shareholdings, except that Actew's contribution is less than would be suggested by their shareholding because they have made an investment in kind through making available their wires and so forth and also through the investment of the intellectual property and the research already done on the project through such things as the Aranda rollout from the first stage of this proposal.

Mr Osborne also asked me about whether the TransACT fibre-optic technology was the most contemporary leading edge technology to use in this setting. My advice is that it certainly is. The alternative apparently is WAP technology, which is okay for use inside buildings, offices and smaller areas but it gets into problems when large buildings and trees and so on get in the way. Of course, in the bush capital that is quite likely to happen.

TransACT engineers investigated using WAP in fact before the network was built but discovered there are too many inherent problems at present. High-tech companies in the US and Europe have found the same thing and are also building networks using fibre-optic technology. WAP technology can be connected to the broadband network. It works very well in some cases but it can also be very expensive. WAP technology is able to be connected to the TransACT network.

Fibre-optic networks like the one TransACT is building and WAP technology do complement each other and can be used together but WAP is not an effective way to connect a whole city and definitely not a whole region, state or country.

Mr Speaker, I am advised that NextGen has just raised $800 million to lay fibre-optic cable connecting the major capitals in Australia, including Canberra, from Perth to Brisbane. Companies like Leightons, which is one of the major backers of that enterprise, and Lucent Technologies, which is one of the world's largest high-tech companies-in fact, the largest research and development institution in the world-and which is providing much of TransACT's technology, would certainly not have invested that very large figure in superseded technology. Incidentally, WAP technology is wireless access protocol.

Deakin oval

MR HUMPHRIES: Ms Tucker also asked me during question time about urban open space at Deakin. I can confirm that there is some urban open space close to the Croatian Deakin Soccer Club at Deakin. It is urban open space covering the Deakin anticline. That area will not be compromised in the development which has been proposed by the club. In fact, it is going to be enlarged in that proposal. The area that is being proposed to be varied is in fact restricted access recreation and it is not subject-

Ms Tucker: And public. Yes, I said that.

MR HUMPHRIES: Well, that is not classified under the Territory Plan as urban open space.

Ms Tucker: I know what you are saying. People think it is public land.

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