[LINK] Inside Telstra's technical plans for the NBN
David Boxall
david.boxall at hunterlink.net.au
Sat Dec 6 21:35:29 AEDT 2008
At 12:04 AM 6/12/2008, Jan Whitaker wrote:
> At 09:37 PM 5/12/2008, David Boxall wrote:
>>> "Do we have alternative network building plans in the event that we
>>> don't win? Yes," said Winn.
>> So Telstra can build the NBN without government funding? Let 'em go for it.
>
> It's the subscription tv overbuild again.
What hadn't occurred to me is that, in the event Telstra isn't engaged
to build the NBN, then sets out to build a competing network, it will
naturally cherry-pick. That will distort the market for whoever builds
the government-backed network.
How can that be prevented? I presume Telcos are licensed, so perhaps a
licence fee based on the percentage of the population within the
network's coverage area.
I'll label that percentage P. The target is 98%, so the fee should be
based on the difference between the target and P: 98 - P. Telstra has
said that the cost of building the network rises exponentially as the
percentage population coverage rises, so we'll use the difference as an
exponent of a cash figure, say $100,000.
Licence fee = $100,000^(98 - P). That should level the playing field
between the telco who puts in the effort to cover the most people and
the one who concentrates on the easiest pickings.
Getting anything of the sort done is another thing, of course.
--
David Boxall | When a distinguished but elderly
| scientist states that something is
| possible, he is almost certainly
| right. When he states that
| something is impossible, he is
| very probably wrong.
--Arthur C. Clarke
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