[LINK] The NBN is already out of date, but it's not too late to change course

[David Boxall]

Strangely, some people still seem surprised at just how badly we've been 
screwed for short-term political gain. Of course, the whole 
telecommunications network has been mismanaged since the 1980s; Internet 
connectivity is just the highest-profile casualty at present.

<http://www.theage.com.au/comment/the-nbn-is-already-out-of-date-but-its-not-too-late-to-change-course-20160329-gnt18u.html>
> ...
> There's some good news. Both our average and peak internet speeds have 
> increased by 11 per cent and 6.4 per cent year-on-year, respectively. 
> However, that's a bit like kicking six unanswered goals in the last 
> quarter of an AFL match when you're 50 points behind. It might make a 
> few players feel better but it still means you lost the game.
>
> In any case, when it comes to a realistic analysis of our internet 
> service it's less about download speeds and more about upstream speed, 
> latency, reliability, value-for-money, and future upgradability.
>
> ... It is thought that soon, if not now, the cost of building a fibre 
> network will turn out to be very close to the cost of continuing with 
> copper.
>
> This does not take into account the long-term advantages of building a 
> fibre network from the beginning. ... once it is laid fibre has a 
> virtually unlimited upgrade potential. The maximum speed that can be 
> squeezed out of copper is limited, it can't be upgraded without 
> significant additional expenditure and wastage of sunk costs, and 
> maintenance costs are high compared to the fibre alternatives.
>
> Add the fact that NBN is a long-term national infrastructure play, and 
> the fact that the copper-based services will be superseded and no 
> longer fit-for-purpose in 10 to 15 years, and you just have to wonder 
> why we are still heading down such an inferior pathway. The Snowy 
> Mountains scheme, by contrast, is still delivering 50-plus years after 
> it was completed because it was designed for the future, not just the 
> next couple of electoral cycles. Likewise the Sydney Harbour Bridge 
> built back in the 1930s.
>
> ... What we really need now is for the government to change its 
> official position and instruct NBN to adopt a fibre-based strategy 
> with long-term sustainability in mind.
>
> We need to stop arguing about the relative costs of fibre verses 
> copper. All we are talking about now is when we spend the money 
> because we will eventually have to replace the copper wire.

Sadly, today's Conservatives seem terrified of the future. Asking them 
for anything "with long-term sustainability in mind" is asking them to 
confront that which causes them to soil their nappies.

-- 
David Boxall                    |  For when the One Great Scorer comes
                                 |  To mark against your name,
http://david.boxall.id.au       |  He writes-not that you won or lost-
                                 |  But how you played the game.
                                                      --Grantland Rice