Firms back NBN to transform business world

More than half of Australian businesses believe the national broadband network (NBN) will transform the way they operate, Access Economics has found.

In a survey commissioned by Macquarie Telecom, over 50 per cent of respondents say a high-speed fibre optic network will result in new products and services and better communication with customers.

Respondents say the changes will make business more competitive and expand their target markets and geographic reach.

And 73 per cent believe faster delivery of products and services will result.

"The message says, today, over three-quarters of businesses think it will have a profound change," Access Economics director, Ric Simes, said.

The findings are contained in the report, Australian Business Expectations for the National Broadband Network, based on a survey of 550 firms across 17 industry groups.

The research shows the electricity and utility sector has the highest expectations of change, with 80 per cent of respondents saying the NBN will alter the way they operate.

That was followed closely by the media and telecommunications sector, education, retail and health.

Mr Simes said 20 per cent of businesses expect changes to their employment model, in particular the location of staff, as a result of access to high-speed broadband.

"That is things like being able to work from home, more flexible hours or more flexible ways of working and the ability to attract higher skilled staff," he said.

"One of the more obvious examples that comes up is women who have had children being able to return to work in a more flexible way, which means businesses are going to be able to retain skilled staff more easily than they will otherwise."

Communication with customers would get an overhaul in about 55 per cent of businesses, which predicted a greater role for social media, more interactive website content and the ability to transform ecommerce.

The NBN business case summary released by the Federal Government last week has estimated a $35.7 billion capital expenditure cost for the whole NBN network.

"The measures that tend to get reported the most, in terms of productivity and GDP are only part of the story," Mr Simes said.

"But one of the implications [of the NBN] is that it will enable a more competitive economy, a more dynamic economy, throughout the whole economy."

Mr Simes said it would be "very difficult" to provide the kind of cost-benefit analysis the Federal opposition has been calling for to back up spending on the NBN.

"The benefits are very disbursed and will take some time to roll out," he said. "You need to make a decision here and you are going to make a decision without knowing the nature or the scale of all the different benefits very precisely."

However, a cost-benefit analysis was not necessary from an investor's point of view, he said.

"That sort of investment decision is taken all the time," he said.

"As an investor I would like to have some sort of understanding of the nature of the income stream my investment is going to generate over time. But do I need a cost-benefit analysis to make that investment, no I don't."

Macquarie Telecom chief executive, David Tudehope, said there was strong interest in the business community about what the NBN will mean, as debate has so far focused on the residential space.

"As the debate moves from the political world to the business world, maybe we can take some time to fill this knowledge gap around what it means for business," Tudehope said.

"There has been a lot of interest around how people can innovate in their business, how as a smaller player they can take on larger players through innovating faster and for larger companies how they can consolidate their position."

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