[LINK] web: The NBN satellite Malcolm Turnbull never, wanted prepares for liftoff

[Jim Birch]

Chris Johnson wrote:

Doing the engineering for any problem means finding a
> technically feasible and sufficient solution at an acceptable cost..
>

All expenditure should ideally be judged in terms of opportunity cost, that
is, the loss of other alternatives that the money could be used for.  If
the government spends X dollars creating a fibre endpoint, that X dollars
could be spent on other projects.  A responsible government must consider
the social utility of its spending alternatives.

The cost of adding fibre endpoints to the NBN varies enormously with
geography.  If, for example, running fibre to a single bush location cost
the same as one or more hip replacements in the public health system, which
would you choose?  Internet connection enhances life but so do hip
replacements, significantly.


Jim