[LINK] A Coalition NBN
stephen at melbpc.org.au
stephen at melbpc.org.au
Tue Mar 12 21:44:45 AEDT 2013
Kim writes,
> AFR article behind a paywall for me.
For me also. That's why there's one paragraph .. the same as for you.
Rather have sex with Nicki Minaj :( than pay The Australian etc idiots.
But, if we do go the coalition, this sure seems better than FTTN anyway ..
> Turnbull recently said the Coalition would honour existing NBN contracts
> .. and suggested it might introduce a plan where users could pay to have
> fibre extended to their premises.
Cheers
On 2013/Mar/12, at
> 5:17 PM, stephen at melbpc.org.au wrote:
> "NBN can win
pri> vate funds: report"
>
> Major private infrastructure
inv> estors such as the Future Fund,
> AustralianSuper and
On> tario Teachers Pension Plan could be attracted to
>
inve> st in a revamped national broadband network in the first
> term of a
> Coalition government, research claims..
>
>> <http://www.afr.com/p/national/nbn_can_win_private_funds>
_report_hEmb83TxLw
> QxZnpGiaZ67N> PUBLISHED: 16 hours
AG> O | UPDATE: 3 hours 47 MINUTES AGO
>
> --
>
> "What
is> the future for the NBN under the Coalition?"
>
> "As
th> e Coalition reportedly prepares to release details of
its>
> alternative National Broadband Network plan, what is
> at stake for the
> network if Labor loses the
election?">
>
> By Stephanie McDonald (Computerworld) 12 March,
201> 3 14:00
>
<http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/456056> /what_future_nbn_under_coal
>
ition_/?fp=4&fpid=78268965>>
>
>
> NBN Co has a 10-year plan for Australiaâs
high> -speed broadband future,
> but a change in government
af> ter Septemberâs federal election Ë with the
> latest
> Newspoll showing the Coalition with a lead of 52 per
cent> to
> Laborâs 48 per cent on a two-party preferred
bas> is Ë has created
> uncertainty about the projectâs
fu> ture.
>
> Shadow broadband minister Malcolm Turnbull
has> made it clear he plans to
> do things differently with
> the National Broadband Network (NBN), which is
>
Austral> iaâs largest ever public infrastructure project.
>
>
N> BN Co has also thrown the doors open to a potential
chang> e in the roll
> out of the network, with NBN Co CEO
Mike> Quigley recently calling for a
> study from the
Communi> cations Alliance to decide what is the best
>
technology> to use to roll it out.
>
> [ Receive up-to-the-minute
n> ews on telcos in Computerworld's Telecoms
> newsletter
]>
>
> However, little is know about the Coalition's NBN
p> olicy other than it
> would employ fibre-to-the-node
(FT> TN) for large parts of the network,
> rolling out fibre
> to cabinets in the street and using copper for Ålast
>
> mileâ connection from the cabinet to premises.
>
>
The> shadow minister has said that fibre-to-the-home (FTTH)
w> ould still be
> rolled out to new housing estates
(green> fields developments).
>
> This compares to the Federal
G> overnment's roll out of the NBN utilising
> FTTH, which
> delivers fibre to the doorstop of premises, for 93 per
ce> nt
> of Australia.
>
> Turnbull has also said he would
> retain Telstra and Optusâ HFC networks,
> which are
ba> sed on a combination of copper and optical fibre, in
orde> r to
> remove âbarriers to competitionâ° with the
NBN> .
>
> If the Coalition wins the election it wonât be
t> he first time an incoming
> government has been tasked
w> ith completing an already in-progress
> infrastructure
p> roject, and Nick Economou, senior lecturer in politics
>> and social inquiry at Monash University, said there may
> be limits to how
> much a new government could change
th> e direction of the NBN.
>
> One example is the
construct> ion of a desalination plant in Victoria,
> which was
ann> ounced by John Brumbyâs Labor government in late 2007
a> nd
> includes a 30-year contract with the AquaSure
conso> rtium.
>
> The Liberal Party's Ted Baillieu became
premi> er in Victoria at the end of
> 2010 and said the
Liberal> government was stuck âwith a very expensive
> white
e> lephantâ° because it would have cost too much to
extrica> te itself
> from the projectâs contracts.
>
> âThe
> opposition went bananas over [the desalination plant]
and> pilloried
> it every waking moment of their existence.
> But upon coming to government,
> when confronted with
th> e cost of extracting itself from all those
> contracts,
> it said Åno, no, weâre more or less tied inâ,â°
Eco> nomou said.
>
> He expects the same will happen with
the> NBN if the Coalition wins the
> election.
>
> âI
wou> ldnât be at all surprised if there were only minor
alte> rations to
> the direction of NBN policy after the
elect> ion [under the Coalition],â° he
> said.
>
> However,
> independent MP Rob Oakeshott has said it is still
possibl> e for
> the NBN plan to be changed, but âthe worst
thi> ng that could happen now is
> a complete change of
direc> tionâ°.
>
>
> NBN Coâs future under the Coalition
>
>
>
> Economou said it is possible that Turnbull might
tr> y to dismantle NBN Co
> and create a new organisation
in> its place.
>
> The shadow minister has been a staunch
> critic of the NBN wholesaler,
> blaming the company for
> not having a âtransparent approach to
>
informationâ°> and making it difficult for the Coalition to carry out
a>
> costed analysis of its alternative NBN plan.
>
>
â> Itâs a statutory authority,â° Economou said. âNow
of> course statutory
> authorities have a certain degree
of> autonomy from ministers, so what
> presumably the
Coali> tion government will do is they will go back to the
>
en> abling legislation, redraft it, alter its charter of
oper> ation and I
> dare say it will then move to get rid of
w> hoeverâs running it at the
> moment.â°
>
> In
order> to replace NBN Co, a Coalition government would need to
> pass new
> legislation.
>
> âIf the Coalition did
no> t control the Senate, this could prove to be
>
tricky,â> ° Economou said.
>
>
> What will a Coalition NBN look
> like?
>
>
> In 2010 the Coalition said it would
demolis> h the NBN. Since then, the
> Coalition has changed its
t> ack, indicating it wonât demolish the network
> but
ro> ll it out faster and cheaper.
>
> Turnbull recently
stat> ed the Coalition would honour existing NBN
> contracts,
> which include the $11 billion Telstra contract and the
$8> 00
> million Optus agreement and suggested it might
intr> oduce a plan where
> users could pay to have fibre
exten> ded to their premises.
>
> However, rolling out FTTN
ins> tead of FTTH would require altering existing
>
contracts> , something which Telstraâs CEO, David Thodey, told
the>
> Australian is out of the question if the
contractâs> dollar figure is
> changed.
>
> While speeds up to
100> Mbps are achievable on the FTTH NBN, Turnbull has
>
said> most people would be able to achieve speeds of 50Mbps
on> a FTTN-
> based network, while those farthest away from
> the node will experience
> speeds of 25Mbps and a third
> of people will achieve speeds of 80Mbps.
>
> This
assum> ption is based on the experience in the UK, Turnbull has
> said,
> and he has refused to confirm what speeds
Austra> lian consumers would be
> able to access under the
Coali> tionâs NBN.
>
> Turnbull also has refused to provide
f> igures on how much sooner or
> cheaper the Coalition
wou> ld be able to roll out the NBN, telling ABC
> Radioâs
> AM program it is unable to produce a costed analysis of
i> ts NBN
> plan as it is unaware of the âextent to
which> [NBN Co] have made
> commitmentsâ°.
>
> Regardless
of> what road the Coalition takes, Economou said it will
hav> e
> several challenges ahead.
>
> âOn one hand there
> will be the principles that they set out when in
>
oppos> ition about the need to find a more cost-effective way
of> doing
> things,â° he said.
>
> âOn the other hand
> I think theyâll be under enormous pressure from rural
> > constituents, who are usually quite strong supporters
o> f the Coalition,
> to go ahead with the aspects of the
b> roadband rollout.â°
>
> Australia needs a ubiquitous
NB> N: former ACCAN chairman
>
>
> Michael Fraser,
director> Ë Communications Law Centre at UTS and former
>
chairm> an of ACCAN, believes in order for Australia to achieve
i> ts full
> potential in a global digital economy the
coun> try needs to roll out
> ubiquitous high-speed
broadband.>
>
> âI think that the approach that the government
i> s taking is a visionary
> approach. It is a Åbuild it
a> nd they will comeâ sort of approach, but I
> think it
> has an important element to recommend it,â° he said.
>
>
> [ Receive up-to-the-minute news on telcos in
Computerw> orld's Telecoms
> newsletter ]
>
> Under the current
La> bor plan, most Australians will potentially have
>
acces> s to 100Mbps.
>
> This type of ubiquitous high-speed
bro> adband network will allow other
> services to be rolled
> out off the back of it, such as education,
> healthcare
> and social services, Fraser said.
>
> âWhether you
ag> ree with [Laborâs] vision or not depends on your view
> > about whether those services will indeed develop, that
> if you build such
> a physical infrastructure, new
busin> esses, new social services [and]
> community services
wi> ll populate the network,â° he said.
>
> âI think
the> reâs a great capacity to build those kinds of services
> once
> you have the infrastructure in place.â°
>
>
Fra> ser called the Coalitionâs approach an incremental one
> and doesnât
> believe it will deliver the same
opportu> nities as Laborâs FTTH plan Ë in
> order to provide
n> ational healthcare services or education, everybody
>
ne> eds to have access to the same infrastructure. If they
do> nât, changes
> would take longer to penetrate
througho> ut a community and the rest of the
> country, he said.
> >
> Fraser pointed to the example of Appleâs approach
> to rolling out new
> products.
>
> âIf they had
gone> out into the market and said â Ådo you need an
iPod?â>
> or Ådo you need an iPad?â, not many consumers
wo> uld have said that they
> needed it, but [Apple] had
the> courage to build these new technologies,â°
> he said.
>
>
> âSo sometimes you have to make a strategic
step-c> hange and use
> technologies in imaginative new ways
and> I think the NBN is an example of
> that â An
incremen> tal approach doesnât achieve that network effect.â°
>
>
> However, Fraser conceded it will be some time until
th> is kind of
> creativity emerges from the NBN and it
wonâ> t be until the rollout reaches
> 30 to 40 per cent
tha> t such a transformation will occur.
>
>
> Election
201> 3
>
>
> Despite being one of the most highly contested
> topics in the tech
> industry, Economou said the NBN
wil> l not play a major role in the broader
> public debate
d> uring the federal election.
>
> Instead, it is likely
to> be overshadowed by other issues, such as the
> mining
t> ax, the carbon tax and apparent leadership problems in
th> e Labor
> party, he said.
>
> And despite the
Coalitio> n leading by just 4 per cent in the recent poll,
>
Econo> mou believes there will be a clear winner come
September.>
>
> âI donât think [the NBN] will [be a big
electio> n issue] because I think
> the next federal election
wil> l be a landslide defeat of the government
> and a whole
> range of policy issues will be pushed aside because it
wi> ll
> really be about the competence of the
government,â> ° he said.
>
> âI think [Labor will] be defeated
real> ly badly.â°
>
> Follow Stephanie McDonald on Twitter:
@> stephmcdonald0
>
> Follow Computerworld Australia on
Twi> tter: @ComputerworldAU
> ==
>
> Cheers,
> Stephen
>
____> ___________________________________________
> Link
mailin> g list
> Link at mailman.anu.edu.au
>
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--
Kim Holburn
IT Network &
S> ecurity Consultant
T: +61 2 61402408 M: +61 404072753
ma> ilto:kim at holburn.net aim://kimholburn
skype://kholburn
-> PGP Public Key on request
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