Katter: Abbott’s broadband plan has too much private ownership
- 24 August, 2010 16:37
- Comments 44
Independent politician, Bob Katter, has arrived in Canberra for talks with the major parties and described the Opposition’s broadband plan as having ‘too much private ownership’.
With Parliament currently hung and the cooperation of independents like Katter needed to form Government, both major parties are scrambling to tout their benefits. Katter and the two other independent MPs have previously cited rural and regional broadband as a key issue.
When asked about what he thought of Opposition leader Tony Abbott’s broadband plan, Katter said he had not looked at it in great detail.
“It seems to me that it’s got an awful lot of private ownership associated with it and you can’t go down that path,” he said. “Most certainly a privatised system is not where I’m going to go.
“Telstra’s privatisation was diabolical for Australia and in fact every privatisation has been diabolical for rural Australia. Clearly you can sustain those services in the cities and you can’t in the country.”
Conversely, Katter said he was being told the Government’s National Broadband Network plan was a good idea and that it was good for Australia.
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Comments
John Parry
So Katter is another fool who thinks that spending $42b is a good idea when Labor has proven their ineptitude at running any program. Such short memories they all have. So much for the independents not running their own agendas.
James
Bob Katter the nutjob racist says what?
Cee
John, show me where it says there's 42bn of government money being spent, I bet you 82bn you can't. It's more like 24bn and the government hopes to make that back.
Tony has promised 7bn, if we were to take the amount he expects to be spent in total on the network from funds raised elsewhere that figure would look a lot bigger also.
No private company has ever built any network in Australia. Planes, trains, automobiles, telephony, everything that is Australia wide has been build by government. It needs to be. Telstra and Optus tried rolling out their HFC network but gave up when it was too costly for their shareholders.
John
"The government hopes to make that back". Hope is a powerful tool, isn't it. Labor hoped the pink batts fiasco would go away, then they hoped no-one would notice the millions wasted on the BER, and the websites, and...so on...
Of course it won't cost $42b. It will be more, because the $42b is from the reds themselves. Labor is incapable of running anything on time, on budget and with any modicum of sensibility. Do some research.
And do you really think that Mum and Dad are going to fork out $200 a month for 200Gb download allowance? Just check out the current prices on offer in Tassie, they are beyond what most people will pay.
You know I'm right.
Harry
Actual John, you're wrong. Do some research.
greg
John, you clearly have no clue... read some more detailed articles about the subject rather than the "news headlines" and off the Liberals website and come back hopefully with 1/2 a clue....
What I always say is lets compare apples with apples not apples with oranges...
Why do I say that???
Well which of these plans has been leapt into quickly and which has been progressively thought out over a long period of time... The NBN or Pink Bats/BER packages???
Obviously the pink bats and BER packages were stuff ups yes as they were rolled out without checks and balances during the GFC all far too quickly which I agree was stupid by Labor, but the NBN should not be thought of on the same level... Its one of the better things Labor have come up with (even if I don't agree with it 100% as explained below)
To get to the $43B figure (really $26B) they went through a discussion process with experts, got quotes for their initial plan and then threw that out the window when they clearly saw that it was a waste of money going down the FTTN route as no private enterprise must have been willing to offer the coverage etc for the $4.7B original plan, then on recommendations they decided to go with FTTH instead and spend more of the taxpayers money to get a proper solution....
The NBN has been pretty well thought out and has decent technical people running the show at NBN Co, not like the other crappy schemes (PB, BER, Stimulus etc) that Labor created... I think where coper reaches so should FTTH, but after the initial roll out later down the track lets say 10 years after 2018, it should be a progressive roll out which does not stop at the 93% area and definitely not sold off... and whilst yes, a wireless solution should be rolled out as soon as possible for the 94 -100% as a stop gap measure, it should not be thought of as the endgame that's for sure... It should be thought of as only a temporary solution to the problem.
If the Libs had 1/2 a decent plan on Broadband then I would have voted for them, their clear underestimation of how crucial broadband is to this country speaks loudly of how out of depth they are... Wireless will not be our saviour...
Do it once and do it right is how we should be looking at major policies and investments in our future... not a patch work quilt solution that will cost us even more in the long run!
Oh and FYI I am in the wireless foot print area outside of the proposed 93% area so I would only be getting wireless under either government but at least I can see the benefits of FTTH to the country in the long run as a whole!
Tom
John, i agree with everyone else about how misinformed you are
Plus you can't use the previous Labor screw ups as an indication of the NBN, Labor's not building it, all they're doing is providing 26 Billion to NBNCo, a company run by Michael Quigley who is a fantastic CEO and is so good at what he does he was offered the job of CEO of Alcatel-Lucent, and then NBNCo is building a $43 Billion network using both the funds from Labor, and their own borrowings.
I find it sad that people buy into propaganda from both sides of the political scope, instead of actually figuring out the facts
Yes, Labor screwed up a fair bit, but they helped create 200,000 jobs and keep us from recession (the previous government helped too) so they are not as bad the Liberal propaganda makes them out to be.
One thing is for sure, the Liberals have no idea about the importance of broadband in the future, and they were never going to even put their plan into effect. In fact, in the first term of government, guess how much of the $6.7 Billion the Liberals plan to spend?
No, you're wrong. Only $150 Million
Enough said
Daz
If governments past had to do a cost benefit analysis for every damn thing we'd never have the Snowy, highways or electricity grids.
Daz
Bob
Daz, how long ago were those sorts of things built though? Generally more than 50 years ago.. Times have changed and everything needs to be costed. A project such as the snowy hydro would never be built today anyway, look at what Bob Brown did in stopping the planning Franklin dam in the 80's...
I like my fast internet, but Labors plan will not come in at $43 billion, it will be alot more, it'll be shonky and it will take longer to build than they estimate.
stevo
i don't have good internet because i need a phone line first thats min $30 a month add $60 for a basic 1.5Mb internet and i already have to pay $90 plus phone calls. with plans on offer from $50 on the NBN with no line rental i save $40 straight up and have better net. and can still call people with voip. plus all the other benefits that will come like HD movie rental online with no need to leave home then take the movie back. And TV on demand. i cant even use you tube properly with the 3g wireless i am on an not to mention its overprice.
andy
NBN is going to be the biggest white elephant. It's going to cost more then 43B and will be another labor party Blow out policy. The cost of fibre alone and running around our nation would already cost 43b. This will cost every household amost $5000 a pop..doesnt matter whether you want it or not. Then will will cost you further more to run the fibre into your home( depend how far your home to fibre point) to a hub and you might have to upgrade your computer as well.
On top of all the cost ...$43b is the amount of money which we dont have ..thanks to labor for the wonderfull 93B deficit. ohHh and the interest accumulating, nice...$100M a day.
By the time this project finsihed ....new technology would already be available. The US will launch a satellite into space in 2012 to run the new Wmax wireless broadband capable of running 100mbs. The world is getting mobile..Iphone laptop etc..Fibre...will be obsolete and our grand kids willl continue to pay for the debt of this country.
and thats my 2 cent
This 43B would have a better use on Hospitals and urgent need infrastructures like Rail tracks and roads.
@Tom...the recession was in august 2008...by the time the BER roll out in sept 2009, we already recovered from the recession. Thanks to our strong economy and $22B surplus. Created 200,000 jobs was just a lame failed policy excuse that labor come up with. Labor claimed they created 200K then swan claimed 350k then 800k then back down to 400k just like the Super Profit tax fudge figure. Billions wasted on this Builder Early Retirement Stimulus and you want this dis functional government to continue with
Logic
@ Andy (Post 11)
Try using a Wireless Router, just so you understand what wireless technology is.
Optic Fibre essentially makes use of 'light' at it's core. Do you really believe light will be outdated in 8 years time?
EnJaySee
Wow, a lot of misinformation regarding the NBN here.
I'm of the mind that, although it's costly, the NBN is a good thing. I was very disappointed when I saw the coalitions broadband policy. Generally when you try to beat someone else's plan, you come up with a better one. It looked to me like the coalition just slapped something together for the sake of having something on the table.
Walter
Costly it may be, but most of you dont take in account that its an asset. it will have revenue that will grow and grow. so we can invest with the labour plan. or we can just throw 7billion to the already rich private sector.
Wireless will never match fibre, its not just about speed but latency.
Hugo
@logic post 12
Wireless routers are not Wimax . Wimax is beng rolled out across China Korea at 100mbs and the US as an alternative to fibre which is VERY old technology as a CABLE dont forget it also relies on copper trenches and other infrastructure.
Speed has also been tested by CSIRO and Siemens to go much furhter amnd faster than is currently deployed
Salami Chujillo
To all who thinks Optic Fibre will be outdated in 8 years time, go back to your cave and do some more research you cavemen, that's where you all belong. The NBN has unlimited capacity, easily upgradable as soon as technology is available to take advantage of the it's amazing light speed. Wireless is not a solution, it is a shared medium, as soon as more people uses the cell, it's going to slow down dramatically. You uneducated Lib voters.
Thexder
It's a pity little Johnny Howard didn't put the taxpayers billion dollars into a decent NBN network rather than paying it to Indonesia a few years back after the tsunami. It's true the people needed help but how much of that ever got to the people and how much lined their politicians pockets?
That waste of money was the largest in Australian history by any politician, imagine what a forward thinking party could have done with that on infrastructure in Australia.
Harquebus
Vital national infrastructure does not belong in private hands. Privatizing Telstra was the biggest mistake ever made by an Australian government. As long as the NBN remains in public hands, the Coalitions plan will be good enough.
Noother
I also believe that the Libs broadband plan is just something they whipped up quickly just to have something to offer. I want the NBN, not so much for more speed or higher caps (if they happen), but to stop the Telstra monopoly and provide access to good speed internet to everyone as well as the services that tag onto that service.
David
When I start talking about what NBN means, most people have not got the foggiest. When I ask most people do they need extra bandwidth most say no. The area that is a big problem is rural and NBN is not looking to solve that problem in the short term. Every thirdworld county has recognised that to solve the rural issue, that they need to go wireless. If we increased 3G towers in the bush we could get phone and internet. Many of these places cannot get phone reception. We need to take the politics out of the issue and launch a public enquiry into what is actually needed and what we are prepared to spend on it.
Francis
Why has no-one mentioned the huge environmental cost of wireless? We are now on our fourth replacement of the wireless hardware in towers, and going for a WiMAX or LTE solution as the PRIMARY broadband solution for greater Australia outside our cities will mean tens of thousands of towers, needing electricity supply and equipment replacement cycles of three to five years. Every rooftop needs a fixed mast (remember this is not mobile wireless, it is FIXED wireless if you are more than 7 km from a tower.) And the spectrum and physics constrain the available bandwidth.
Fibre can be laid once to premises, even those without grid electricity, and the NTU, laptop and phone can be solar powered with storage backup by a single rooftop solar panel. No upgrades needed. The fibre will never be a bottleneck for ANY future speed. NTT on 25 March proved this, when they distributed 69.1 TERABOTS per second over a single fibre core for 240 km.
Seriously, folks, why would you spend billions on a short-term solution for regional Australia when this is doable today, but only with FTTP? Cost is under $20 a head per month over ten years, all of which will be recovered in productivity improvements.
Vic Whiteley
When I look at old photos of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, just after it was built, there were almost no cars on it.
Was the reaction in those days: "what do we want a bloody bridge for? I can get across the harbour just as quickly by ferry. How are my grandchliden going to pay for it? (the usual ridiculous comment). I don't want my tax dollars going towards a bridge like that"
Well, the bridge today is completely choked....just like building the NBN pipes and filling them up
Oh, and by the way, the Bridge was not paid for until 1988, 35 years after it was built...I am one of those grandchildren and I can't recall complaining, except to the extent that we need another bloody bridge!
Francis
For TERABOTS please read TERABITS, folks. Sorry about that, but it would be a cool-sounding word.... :-)
Troy
Katter is right for the most part. Believe it or not, Businesses are out there to primarily make money. In order to invest money in anything, they need a quick return. This why ISP's have only investiged infrastrucure in areas with High Density and High demand. Anything that takes more than 2 years to payback, they wont want to know about it.
I live on the NSW Central coast and the only primary internet provider at my exchange is of course telstra not to mention that there are no ADSL2+ ports available either. I make a lot of calls to Sydney for work so I am also relying heavily on my poor quality voip phone.
This is where the government needs to step in an bridge this gap.
Blake
Wow a politician who has done some research! Nice, we might not be screwed after all. Ignore those nay-sayers.
doninoz
It is curious that no one has mentioned the 'Cost Of Ownership' for individual users.
My company has worked in the networking infrastructure business for years with several Austal Licensed workers who worked exclusively with optic fibre. we have rolled out fibre mostly for schools, councils and some large corporations (mostly for their telephone systems), CATV and CCTV applications where distance was an issue. In all the jobs hardly any customer called for upgrades to "behind the wire" infrastructure. If they did, they would have received a shock.
For instance, optical fibre (OF) will usually only come to a property boundary from a supplier (say Optus/Testra). From there on it will cost a conservative $30.00 per metre to lay out single mode OF. Only trained Austal approved installers can do it (especially termination of cables - it is critical...I see another pink batt fiasco coming up!!!).
If a customer wants the types of speed OF can deliver to their computer then they need to do some more upgrades. For instance...most computers have on-mother-board CAT5 connectors. At the very least they will need an upgrade to a card (and they will need a PCIe slot) with an OF connector (about $300.00 for a reasonable one)...for each computer!
Any hubs or routers will need to be changed at a price anywhere from $300.00 up to several thousand. They will need to purchase OF cables at fixed lengths (anywhere from $55.00 upwards). They won't be able to make them themselves. They will need patch panels (about $125.00 per computer) at the very least if they are not upgrading computers but still have fibre coming in.
I am not saying that Fibre isn't great...it is and has its many benefits including centralising plant (as distance isn't an issue).
There is, however, another issue...that is the speed of the available internet itself. Speed will always be at the slowest delivery node. So, will Government be able to access submarine FO from private organisations that own them or are they going to lay out their own (for instance to Asia, US and Continental Europe). Even then, speeds of individual information servers and network congestion has to be brought into the equation.
These are just a few of the issues I see in this whole OF argument.
Matt
How many of those people having a go at NBN actually realise that the concept was originally drawn up by the Liberals/Nationals when they were in power..?
They then lost the election and labour took the original concept an ran with it - in fact when it was announced the Nationals said, we cant argue with it, it is obviously a good idea because we invented it.
The liberals stuck their foot in mouth when they bagged one of their own ideas and concepts that they were going to do if they retained power in the last election.
vandermast
@doninoz: No internal house wiring upgrades are required, as NBNCo will install the first CAT5e access point from the indoor/outdoor optical fibre ONT. This access point enable users to utilize their currently existing switches / routers to plug in the Cat5e cable for internet accessibility.
Users will not be required to install fibre optic cables into their houses themselves. They will certainly not need to puchase expensive fibre optic routers, and definitely not purchase optic fibre patch panels or optic fibre network cards for their computers.
For the last 10 years, international optic fibre access has been controlled by a duopoly, inflating access prices. This changed last year with the addition of pipe networks. An additional 2 networks, PacNet and Nextgen, is set to expand international capacity to 22Tbps b y 2013. This will give Australia's 10M internet users access to 24/7 links to the US at 25Mbps per user with a very generous 10:1 contention ratio with a wholesale choice between 5 international suppliers.
Bring on the NBN.
L.
@Doninoz..
What the hell are you babbling about..? The OF will be terminated onto what is essentially a fibre / Cat 5 media converter, with an intergrated 4 port 100M switch. There will be no need to wire ones house with fibre or buy fibre NIC's or routers.
No offense sport, but "your company" needs to invest in some employee training. :-/
Gav
Lol people actually believed that Lib propoganda about Labor having $100m debt a day?
Work it out... that's $100m*365 $36.500 trillion a year.
If Labor are indeed spending $36.5 trillion per year, where are our gold plated highways?
Now is the best time of all to build the NBN, rest of the world in GFC = they will sell off the fiber gear for cheap.
Gav
[[And do you really think that Mum and Dad are going to fork out $200 a month for 200Gb download allowance? Just check out the current prices on offer in Tassie, they are beyond what most people will pay.
You know I'm right. ]]
No, you coult not be more wrong.
http://www.iinet.net.au/press/releases/20100820-iinet-unleashes-nbn.pdf
200GB is $49 per month! add $9.95 for phone with UNLIMITED CALLS.
The cheapest BB plan is $29.95 for 20GB, enough for most budget users, add $9.95 for unlimited phone and there is your services covered for $39.
Want to add Pay TV to that?
http://www.iinet.net.au/fetchtv/
$19.95 a month..... beats the hell out of Foxtel.
and iiNet is far from the chapest ISP.
Point to me where you can get Pay TV, 200GB fast internet, and home phone with unlimited calls south of $60, on the Telstra network, please.
andy
A month ago 6 ambulances waiting outside Liverpool Hospital with Patients inside waiting for hours because the hospital have no bed. 2 of the patients got burned over 20% of their bodies waiting in pain. Most Hospital is over crowded not enough nurses doctors and funds to maintain itself.
Our Great wonderful roads with pot hole size of watermelon all over the country and traffic congestion is unbelievable and the population continue to grow.
AND you' re going to be that patient 1 day waiting in a queue at a hospital and you' re going to be the one stuck in traffic.
After all that you can go home and enjoy your Fibre Optic 100mbs internet and paying for it for the rest of your life.
70% of our network traffic is from the US Google etc..We don't have a direct pipe to the US ..therefore the speed is gonna be slow. It like having a fast Lamborghini and your speed is capped to 60km/h.
Like I said earlier ....43B is a huge amount of money. There are priority and far more important issues.
Most ISP providers have already rolling out 100mbs fibre and cable.
Gav
No ISP is rolling out 100Mbps cable, no HFC has been rolled out since the 1990's and what is rolled out covers a insignificant amount of the population - south of 20%.
No ISP is rolling out 100Mbps fiber also.
We don't have a direct path to the US? WTF? We have 8Tb/s across several paths to the US built at current, and north of 20Tb/s planned. We will have enough transit for people to average over 100Mb/s each.
We have $560bn allocated to hospitals in the same timespan as the NBN and $120bn allocated to roads and infastructure in the same time we have a small $26bn allocated to NBN.
ian
Stupid comment James.
Katter reps his voters, nothing more and certainly nothing less!
Just back from the UK....wifi super fast in the city areas, very much slower in out lying regions.
singo79
Yes, let's all bag out Bob Katter, at least those who don't like the fact that he and the other independents might side with Labor.
At the end of the day we have a hung parliament and it all hinges on forming a minority government with the independents. If you don't like that then go have a cry as this is the system we have to work with.
It is really good to see the independents all coming from regional locations, for now we will finally get true representation in government. I don't live in any of the independents electorates, but I will still benefit thanks to their representation for regional Australia.
I also take offence to those ignorant people constantly quoting the government portion of the NBN as $43b which never has been the case. The government stated that the entire network would cost "up to" $43b, but the estimates have been quoted at $24b.
Is $24b too much government investment? I don't think so, especially when you put it in terms of previous major infrastructure investments carried out in the past. Mike Quigley hit the nail on the head, when you look at past infrastructure projects they get bigger and more expensive, especially when you consider the fact that the Australian population is growing constantly.
In fact the cost per residential property is actually a few hundred dollars less then previous telecommunication projects. When you look at the construction of the overland telegraph, in today's terms it would have cost $10b and covered a smaller population. Including inflation, the price of technology and the servicing of a bigger population $26b of government money isn't too bad. And at the end of the day the government is going to own the network, receive all of the profits and be able to put that money towards other projects once the scheme has paid for itself.
I will certainly be connecting to the NBN, the out-of-pocket expense will be no more then $1500 for the connection and the prices are extremely cheap compared to what we are currently forced to pay for broadband services in the bush.
So people can have a shot at Bob Katter and the other independents for their possible decision to back the ALP, but your comments are not going to sway them by demeaning them.
One can only hope that the independents do decide to back the ALP, at least we won't have the tainted and bigoted views of Tony Abbott running our fine country.
S
Lets leave politics out of the argument and try talking educated sense. I live less than 30 kilometres from a major regional centre in Victoria. Under the current system, funded by a mix of goverment and private enterprise, I get to choose between a satellite solution which works when it's not too cloudy or a wireless solution with a broomstick antenna which works as long as the weathers fine. Remember I don't live in Queensland where the weather is beautiful one day, perfect the next.
Plan A - more of the same.
Plan B - a solution impervious to climatic variation with download speeds that are hard to comprehend.
I like the Harbour bridge anaolgy, only with this bridge we will have the ability to put far more traffic than we can even comprehend. Who remembers the early maximum speed of copper cable? Optical fibre is still in it's infancy and only limited by the speed of our end equipment.
Jordan
Why in Gods name they chose "National Broadband Network" as the name for this national interlink, I'll never know.
What the NBN proposes is a fibre-optic link. allowing for multiple uses along a single fibre. Have Austar + Home Phone + Internet these days? Chances are that you're paying around $150 for the privilege. 25MBit fibre will provide on-demand high-definition video (say 6MBit) voice and video calls (say 2 MBit) high-speed downloading (say 10MBit) and still have headroom (back of envelop says 7 MBit). For about $80 per month.
So why hobble personal savings? Well, businesses don't like capital expenditure. IT companies know this. Very rarely does a company spend a lot of money on better computers. They don't care, as long as the line and the end is still black. The Coalition is trying to run this as a business, and good for them. But it won't work. Privatisation caused the problem in the first place. Otherwise, Labor could have rolled this out, quick-smart. The massive costs incurred in the current deal come from buying Telstra back off the private groups.
Gav
It's far cheaper than that Jordan.
Phone = $9.95 with unlimited calls
Pay TV = $19 a month
Entry level BB (20GB) = $29.95 a month
Total = $58, for pay TV, phone with unlimited calls, and a decent sized quota.
Or, if you don't want Pay TV which many wont - $40 is your phone and internet covered...
High bandwidth users be pleased, 1TB for $99 - $59 for 400GB - 200GB for $49
Sources:
http://www.iinet.net.au/nbn/iitalkpack.html
http://www.iinet.net.au/press/releases/20100820-iinet-unleashes-nbn.pdf
http://www.iinet.net.au/fetchtv/
iiNet is far from the cheapest provider... Just wait until TPG release their NBN pricing ;)
Ross Corrigan
Many countries around the world are going down a similar path as the one proposed by Labor and I think the consensus is that providing a high speed "pipe" into businesses and homes is a very sensible solution to deliver the services a 21st century economy requires. What is critical is that it is done well and on, or preferably! under budget and with proper oversight and governance that should be possible. This is nation building and it is important so let us just get on and do it.
Jim
Australia is a huge country with low population. Try the population of Los Angeles spread over a country the size of the USA.
Communication is vital to our country, evidenced by the standard charge for connection of a telephone anywhere in Australia made by the PMG (and Telstra when we owned it) sfter WW3. Visionary.
A network is only as good as its remotest links. Compare that to the private enterprise option in the USA, where their last plug and cord telephone exchange was decommisioned in the 90's.
Only the Government owned Communications Authority could afford that single connection fee, its not viable on a commercial basis, but vital for a our country.
Leap forward to our Mobile Phone network.
Instead of planning a network to cover the country, if you are further than 25K from a city centre, you have to choose the provider with the best tower for you. But wait, its a mobile phone, what if you want to travel on a highway between any of our capital cities? No reception.
Our Telstra was a world communications leader, and would have been equiped to install a proper mobile network, but leave the marketing to Private Enterprise.
The lesson is that major infrastructure, the Snowy scheme, Electricity Grid, Communications, need to be planned and run by a National Government Authority.
A properly planned network has redundacy built in, so that Terrorists coming in on wooden boats can't just cut a sinle line and disable all traffic.
Don't be selfish and think just of your home connection, what about Business, Medical, Education etc etc in the country? Everyone in Oodnatta South should have access to Communications (Telephone, Mobile, Internet) in the same way as someone in the CBD has.
There is no profit for a private company to service Oodnatta South, but there is a enormous benifit for our Nation in ensure our people of all ages can communicate.
And Fibre a redundant technology? Most of our International communications runs on Fibre uder the sea bed.
The Gang of 3 may be Rednecks, but they are fighting for the right to communicate, which should be available to all Australians, no matter where they are.
They know that private enterprise, which needs a profit, is unable to support their Communities.
S
Well said Jim.
I would expect most city dwellers would like to maintain connectivity whenever they went on holiday.
Particularly if they were to have an accident.
How safe would they feel if we removed public telephones and mobile telephone infrastructure from their well travelled routes, and charged them what they want to charge country folk for access to services?
Paladin
Questions I cant get answers to..please help.
Im told the speed is so fast..that one uses up ones gigs in 8 minutes. Is that right? What does one do for the rest of the time? Are speeds slowed to what they are now? Who can afford the extra usage if its charged for?
Will health consultations that become a Medicare rebate that puts health costs up? Gikkard did say that they could be claimed for.
Who pays for a schools extra usage?
SCOTT BENNETT
Satellite will always have high latency - personally if I could get 50k download with low ping (similar / better then adsl) I would be a happy man. I don't live in the city, I am afraid if you think there going to rip up every street and road in Australia to give everyone a fiber connection you are very silly.
Someone mentioned 5k for a lead in to your house. - Might be right for the suburbs however what about us that live on property's 5 acres 10 acres 5000 acres think thats going to cost 5k?
There is no-one that would love a fiber connection to there home then me however you must be realistic.
Tasmania they claim is done. Its a tiny island. I still doubt the outlying areas have it there. Australia is a big place. Most people I know live in the suburbs like rabbits so I guess it is possible to run a fiber cable under the powerlines or use the lightning conductor (some of them come with fiber embedded)
But for the outlying areas such as what bob katter represents there is 0 chance even if the nbn roll out proceeds.
Most people in the cities already have several flavours of broadband so dont even need another flavour. I only dream I could get adsl2 .
I have several servers one in america and another here in Australia. Everyone is able to buy them (there relatively cheap these days)
All thats needed is to roll out adsl2 in all the exchanges and do a bit of legislation to stop telstra from double dipping with line rental and call charges as we are one of the only country in the world where they have that luxury. Its like selling someone a car and hiring it out to them.
Fact is less then 40% of houses that are capable of having a phone connection are bothering about getting it and who can blame people for not? Its a blatant rip.
god knight
The issue seems to be whether we need it? Why on earth are we getting the government to decide this for us, why not the private sector... if there is a genuine market, people will pay for it!
to the people who say it creates jobs. WRONG, it, at best, diverts capital. for every dollar spent on NBN, thats a dollar that could have been spent by a tax payer. and who spends their money wiser? someone spending their own money, or a the government?
and the Rudd bailout? that just weakened our economy for the money was poorly spend also, AND we have to pay it back with interest. thats like your parents buying you a present you didn't want, then telling you, you have to pay it back with interest!!!
Wake up, the only reason labour proposes these plans is because it gets votes; you don't think they know it screws up the free market system? .. liberal is the better option, but there is also (LDP) which is more liberal on civil rights.
www.ldp.org.au
Keynes was wrong, Milton Friedman, Mises, Rand were right.
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