A STRATEGIC review of the national broadband network has revealed very fast broadband can be delivered to all Australians four years sooner and for $32 billion less than under Labor by using a mix of technologies.
That’s according to Lyne MP David Gillespie, who said the review was carried out by NBN Co, the publicly-owned company building the network, and external expert advisers at the order of the Federal Government as the first step to fixing “the mess” left by Labor.
“This review reveals Labor’s mismanagement of the NBN has led to the single largest waste of taxpayers’ money in the nation’s history,” Dr Gillespie said.
The review’s key findings about the current plan for the NBN – according to Dr Gillespie – are:
* If Labor’s policies are left in place, Australian households will pay up to 80 per cent more for broadband each month.
* The cost of completing the NBN under Labor’s plan has blown out to $73 billion – $29 billion more than we’ve been told.
* Only one in five Australians would receive the NBN by 2016.
* Residents of the Mid-North Coast and many other areas face delays of many years and the project won’t be completed until 2024.
Dr Gillespie said the government had been advised that to deliver broadband sooner, at less cost to taxpayers and more affordably for consumers, the NBN should be completed using a multi-technology mix.
“This will match the right technology to the right location and make use of existing networks where possible to deliver very fast broadband to fast growing areas like the Mid-North Coast,” Dr Gillespie said.
“This will save taxpayers $32 billion, get the NBN finished four years sooner, and ensure that nine out of 10 Australians receive download speeds of 50 megabits per second or more by 2019.”
He said the review also revealed Australians would also pay lower monthly internet bills, with an average broadband plan costing $72 per month, compared to $139 under Labor.
The NBN Strategic Review recommends upgrading existing HFC cable networks so they deliver downloads of up to 300 megabits per second and uploads of up to 100 megabits per second.
Fibre will still be run all the way into households and businesses where this makes sound commercial sense – for instance, where there is high business or consumer demand for very fast broadband, or existing infrastructure needs to be replaced.
A multi-technology mix NBN will provide broadband with downloads of 25 megabits per second via satellite and fixed wireless technology in regional and remote areas of Australia.
This approach to the NBN brings Australia into line with the broadband upgrades being rolled out around the world.
Separate to the strategic review, the government has instructed the Department of Communications to report on quality of internet access in every single neighbourhood in Australia.
That report will be published soon, and the government will launch a website to allow businesses and households to check their broadband speeds and see where they are ranked in early 2014.
The government will use this information to ensure underserved areas get the NBN first.
“It is shocking that there are 1.5 million premises in Australia whose connections are so poor they can’t stream a YouTube video,” Dr Gillespie said.
A new NBN rollout schedule will be released in 2014 along with a revised NBN Co Corporate Plan.
In the meantime, the NBN Co website will be updated regularly to show where construction has started. Communities throughout the Mid-North Coast can track the project online at: www.nbnco.com.au/when-do-i-get-it/rollout-map.
