Well I upset a few colleagues with my rejection of the ALP’s National Broadband Network. Today there is an excellent article in The Australian on how the Industry has condemned the Coalition’s plans to scrap the NBN. Of course the industry almost in unison has come out in support of a fibre based NBN. Some have told me on Twitter that is why I should shut up about it. Well when I was a kid I always wanted the biggest shiniest toy. I very rarely got it. Mainly because Mum & Dad couldn’t afford it. Undoubtedly fibre to the home would be fantastic to use but the reports I’ve read from IIA et al seem to focus on “look at the size of my pipe”. It’s like someone has said “If money were no barrier what sort of network would you want?”. That’s the bit that scares me. Surely we should be thinking about what we can afford and what makes sense. Look at the take up of Facebook since we had clients for iphones & other mobile devices. The major growth in Internet usage is from mobile devices. This survey from AIMIA last year confirms it. So I understand whilst a gigabit connection to my office would be sensational, I wonder how many Aussie homes will take it up given that many of them are abandoning fixed lines anyway.
I’m sitting here watching the Coalition’s announcement on broadband and whilst they’re not spending $45bil they’re still spending billions. It seems ridiculous to me given that Intel believe they can cover the country for millions. If the Howard Govt had not stuffed up Wimax five years ago we would be having a very different conversation now.
I’m sure Conroy will point to industry support as validation of his NBN policy even though he completely ignores us when it comes to other Internet issues.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
WiMax simply doesn’t deliver what the vendors claim (what technology ever does) and is not a viable alternative (except as a “poor man’s broadband”) to a FTTH as per the NBN.
A FTTN simply leaves Telstra controlling the still-copper “last mile” & doesn’t solve the grip that Telstra has on the ability to deliver higher speeds or innovation of communications services to the majority of the population.
The cost of the NBN when presented over many years is excellent value for money (should it stay under ~$50bil) to deliver infrastructure which will be able to carry far higher speeds to a vast majority of the population for decades yet.
The Liberals are continuing with the neocon “Just Leave it to The Market” copout & minimal Gov’t intervention, which simply does not work in Australia’s “broken” IT&C market & they left it broken in the 11 years that they were in power, so I have no faith that they’ll do the hard yards to break Telstra’s strangling grip.
A national approach to a national dominant monopolist (Telstra) is needed & the NBN is a good counter to it (aside from the other lunacy of Conroy). Unfortunately though, I doubt that the NBN (or any real solution to the Telstra Problem) will ever be allowed to reach its potential, for if the Liberals get in this year they’ll let Telstra continue to run rabid and if they get in in 3 years time, the NBN would only be 1/2 way through its rollout & not achieved its potential to break Telstra’s wholesale grip on the Industry.
The real solution is a Gov’t & an IT&C Minister with balls & knowledge (eg: Lundy), but she’ll never get a showing with Conroy around and the Liberals have no clue at all (as is evidenced by their feeble “touch around the edges & don’t upset Telstra” announcements today).
The solution to the broadband issue plaguing any & all Australians is to buy a house within 1-2 kms of your phone Exchange & get naked ADSL2+ and be happy with that, as it’s all you’re every going to get for at least a decade still should the NBN be canned. If you choose to live further than that, then your broadband becomes narrowband quickly & there’s nothing that the Liberals will do about that.
That is it for me in a nutshell. The ALP had the perfect talent for the job yet they chose conroy who talks about things coming through the portals. I don’t believe a word he says. Why is the NBN any different.
I insist on NBN. And free infinite health care. And free education, as much as I want. And subsidised housing; and free childcare; and paternity leave; and a bigger pension; and more parks; more money for veterans; and single mothers; and families; and pets; and immigrants; and aboriginals; and women; and the arts; and I want a laundry powder that makes my whites whiter and brights brighter. And a pony. Oh… won’t somebody think of the children.
But most of all, I want politicians to engage in a robust and honest benefit-cost analysis before they do anything. If they’re so sure it will pass, then they have nothing to fear.
Beautiful