[LINK] Has Malcolm Turnbull changed his mind on the NBN?

[Bernard Robertson-Dunn]

Has Malcolm Turnbull changed his mind on the NBN?
September 22, 2015 - 10:08AM
SMH
Ben Grubb
Technology editor
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/has-malcolm-turnbull-changed-his-mind-on-the-nbn-20150921-gjrgcd.html

Just before he dethroned Tony Abbott to become Prime Minister, Malcolm 
Turnbull phoned long-time rival and telecommunications analyst Paul Budde.

Budde had written a negative analyst note on August 25 about the now 
former communications minister's oversight of the national broadband 
network, saying he "simply didn't have a clue what he was doing" by 
changing "such a large national infrastructure building project midway 
through the process". Budde revealed the call in a note sent to 
journalists last Wednesday.

Turnbull, who had previously taken issue with Budde's NBN analysis, was 
apparently so incensed by the analyst's note that he felt the need to 
call Budde. When exactly the call was made is not known, and neither is 
what Turnbull said.

But Budde offered a clue: "He invited me for a deeper discussion [about 
various issues around the NBN]; I think the time might be ripe to review 
the NBN and start adding the [fibre-to-the-home] extension to it."

While Labor's NBN offered 93 per cent of premises fibre-optic cables, 
the Coalition's is only rolling this out to 20 per cent. The rest of the 
fixed-line network will get slower fibre-to-the-node and hybrid 
fibre-coaxial technology.

It's not unusual for Turnbull to call people when he's upset.

He once called my editor to complain about my characterisation that he 
went "bananas" at me in a teleconference. I had described as an 
"internet filter" a law he was proposing – now passed – that enabled 
piracy websites to be blocked; he strongly disagreed with my "bananas" 
characterisation and "internet filter" claim and wrote a blog post about 
it. Former Herald technology editor Asher Moses got similar treatment 
when writing about the NBN.

While Budde didn't say whether Turnbull would pursue an NBN with more 
fibre, the call has got some industry insiders wondering whether he has 
changed his mind on it now that Abbott is no longer in charge.

My view is that Turnbull won't likely order a drastic NBN change – but 
he sure as hell won't order new Communications Minister Mitch Fifield to 
"demolish" it like Abbott ordered him to do to Labor's NBN.

As for the broader tech space, it's clear Turnbull is seen as a 
cheerleader for techies. After all, he "virtually invented" the 
internet, according to Abbott.

But will he change the NBN substantially? Probably not.

We might see more fibre in it, but that will likely only be a 
consequence of existing copper cables being not up to scratch, of which 
slower fibre-to-the-node technology relies on. But don't expect a 
rejigged NBN with more fibre just because Abbott's gone.

-- 

Regards
brd

Bernard Robertson-Dunn
Sydney Australia
email: brd at iimetro.com.au
web:   www.drbrd.com
web:   www.problemsfirst.com
Blog:  www.problemsfirst.com/blog