[LINK] A national broadband network?

[Tom Worthington]

On 21/11/11 09:25, Nick Ross wrote:

> Valuing the NBN on signups is like saying the Sydney Harbour Bridge's
> business plan was based on charging tolls to cross it ...

The business plan for the Sydney Harbor Bridge was based on charging 
tolls to cross it. In the 1950s there was a proposal for the 
Commonwealth Government to pay off the remanding cost of the bridge and 
abolish the toll, but this was rejected: 
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63469692

The original plan worked and the cost of the bridge was paid off by 
1988: http://www.harbourbridge.com.au/hbpages/historycontx.html

> What's most depressing of course is that Labor is failing to sell it, NBN
> is failing to sell it ...

Telstra is phasing out the copper network, so there is no need to "sell" 
the NBN. New homes will not have copper cable installed, so householders 
will have a choice between the NBN fiber or wireless. Similarly, after 
the fiber is installed in older suburbs, the copper cable will be 
decommissioned, so subscribers will be required to switch to fiber or 
wireless. The switch to digital TV now taking place shows that while 
this is a complex process, with some political sensitivities, it is 
feasible.


-- 
Tom Worthington FACS CP, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au
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Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Research School of Computer Science,
Australian National University http://cs.anu.edu.au/courses/COMP7310/