[LINK] The experts agree, Turnbull’s NBN is ‘a national tragedy’

[David Boxall]

http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2017/04/10/the-experts-agree-turnbulls-nbn-is-a-national-tragedy/
I particularly like this caption on one of the images:
> A tangle of copper wires in a puddle of stagnant water sums up the 
> NBN, ...
> The disastrous rollout of Australia’s NBN is a national tragedy, 
> according to new research by one of the country’s most respected 
> engineers.
>
> Professor Rodney Tucker, of Melbourne University, argues that Prime 
> Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s fateful decision as Communications 
> Minister to opt for Fibre to the Node (FTTN), has been an extremely 
> costly disaster.
>
> While the rest of the world is opting for Fibre to the Premises 
> (FTTP), Australia is embracing an obsolete technology.
>
> Professor Tucker’s paper, The Tragedy of Australia’s National 
> Broadband Network<http://telsoc.org/ajtde/2017-03-v5-n1/a94>, just 
> published in the Australian Journal of Telecommunications and Digital 
> Technology, argues that a worldwide tipping point has been reached.
>
> Globally, the majority of connections are now through FTTP. Australia 
> is one of the very few countries using mass deployment of FTTN, with 
> poor results.
>
> Professor Tucker concludes: “This situation is nothing short of a 
> national tragedy and a classic example of failed infrastructure policy 
> that will have long-term ramifications for Australia’s digital economy.”
>
> The news comes after reports that Australia has slower internet speeds 
> than Kenya or Latvia – and is continuing to sink dramatically down the 
> world rankings.
>
> America now has 250 “gigabit” cities using FTTP, proving a boon for 
> local economies. Australia has none.
>
> Professor Tucker told The New Daily: “The NBN is a great loss of 
> opportunity. We are becoming a broadband backwater. It will have 
> profound effects.”
>
> Associate Professor Mark Gregory, of RMIT University in Melbourne, was 
> equally scathing when he spoke to The New Daily.
>
> “Every Australian expert could see what was happening with 
> technology,” he said. “The economic case used by the Coalition 
> government was nonsense from the outset.
>
> “This is the largest single waste of public funds in Australia’s 
> history. Turnbull must take ownership of this mess. The cost to the 
> taxpayer is currently at $49.5 billion and there is every indication 
> the government will have to tip in another $5-10 billion.”
>
> Paddy Manning, author of the Turnbull biography Born to Rule, told The 
> New Daily that Malcolm Turnbull had been sceptical of the NBN from day 
> one.
>
> “In the 1990s Turnbull made a fortune from the internet, more than $40 
> million,” Mr Manning said. “Unfortunately he drew the wrong lessons 
> from his experience. He thought there would not be enough demand for 
> superfast broadband.
>
> “There was also a knee-jerk ideological wariness of government 
> enterprise and an unwillingness to embark on genuine long term nation 
> building infrastructure projects.
>
> “The Coalition has to shoulder the blame for FTTN. It is a mistake. It 
> will prove an even bigger mistake when we have to find an untold 
> amount of money to upgrade it.”
>
> Chief Executive of Internet Australia Annie Hurley told The New Daily 
> the government urgently needed to rethink the failed NBN. She 
> advocated a bipartisan approach, bringing together the finest 
> engineering minds in the country, including Professor Tucker, to plan 
> a way forward.
>
> “We have turned a vision into a quagmire,” she said. “There is 
> sufficient evidence from around the globe that FTTN is an obsolete 
> technology, yet it continues to be rolled out. We are throwing all 
> this money at it, and we are going to have to come around and do it 
> all again. That is the tragedy.”
>
> Andrew Johnson, chief executive of professional association the 
> Australian Computer Society told The New Daily: “We further reiterate 
> that the reach, speed and quality of an NBN is critical to Australia’s 
> future economic prosperity.”
>
> A spokeswoman for the NBN did not respond to Professor Tucker’s 
> criticisms.

-- 
David Boxall                    |  For when the One Great Scorer comes
                                 |  To mark against your name,
http://david.boxall.id.au       |  He writes-not that you won or lost-
                                 |  But how you played the game.
                                                       --Grantland Rice