The NBN wont make money "for 30 years?" My brain hurts. I wonder if it will even be that soon. In some respects, I think Kevin Rudd is a man of the past, not the future. He's still living in the first half (especially) of the previous century. Back then was a time when the pace of change was slow enough to justify governments setting out on grand schemes to deliver the latest technology to the nation. The copper wire telephone network that was built by the old Post Master General's department (the precursor of the privatised Telstra) made sense at the time. A justified exercise in nation building because the basic technology still hasn't changed, all these years later. Our landline phone system still runs on the copper wire laid down decades ago. But not now. The pace of change in telecommunications is faster than ever. As soon as a creeking government bureaucracy commits to choosing one technological solution it is already out of date. Other players in the telecommunications industry are already talking about internet speeds far in excess of 100Mbps. There are even suggestions now that the old copper wire network may be able to deliver an equivalent speed. So the question remains concerning this thought-bubble inspired likely white elephant - who is going to be mad enough to sign up to it as a paying customer? Those who want even faster speeds and who have the money to pay for it are almost certainly going to use something else especially given that, as Terry McCrann points out below, by 2020 when the NBN will be widely available there will be technologies that will provide internet speeds up to ten times greater than the fibre-optic cable system the government is going to spend $43 billion on. Yes, I know, the government says it is going to be seeking investment from industry to help finance the project, but you'd have to say that there must be substantial questions as to whether any business would see this as a viable money making proposition.
As I said, my brain hurts. |
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Terry McCrann on the Kevin Rudd's next disaster - the National Broadband Network
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