In the Parliament during February, Labor Shadow Communications spokesman Lindsay Tanner asked a series of questions about the development of digital satellite radio. This week the questions were answered by Peter McGauran who was representing The Minister for Communications. He said

The issue of accessibility to, and development of, satellite-based communications was addressed in the Executive
Summary (page 13) and raised in Chapter 11 of the June 2001 Radiocommunications Review report with the recommendation that: the Australian Communications Authority (ACA) monitors developments in satellite charging
internationally and conducts public reviews of satellite licence fee charging from time to time (at for instance, four
yearly intervals, with the first in 2002).

The US based Worldspace Corporation commenced satellite digital radio broadcasting (direct to consumers) in Africa
and the Middle East in 1998, and in most of Asia in 2000. XM Satellite Radio commenced broadcasting in the
US in 2001, followed by Sirius Satellite Radio in 2002.

[In Australia] There are no regulatory barriers to conducting such trials. The Government is supportive of trials of digital radio technologies, including terrestrial and satellite systems, particularly in regional and remote areas, depending on the
specific spectrum requirements of a particular technology.

While satellite digital radio technology may have the capacity to deliver universal service coverage to all of Australia,
the business case for such a service would be a commercial matter to be resolved by the aspirant provider of that
service. In addition, there are a number of spectrum planning and service content related requirements of the Broadcasting
Services Act 1992 that would need to be considered in the context of licensing a satellite digital radio service.
It is the Government’s view that the business cases for the various digital radio delivery technologies are still developing
and it is important to work closely with the industry to identify the most appropriate technology for Australia.

The Government is supportive of trials of digital radio technologies, including terrestrial and satellite systems, par-ticularly in regional areas, and will await the outcome of such trials before considering further steps in the allocation
of spectrum for digital radio. There has been no action to suppress the DBStar satellite notification.