...."The National Broadband Network plan is a waste of money
With the announcement today of the Australian government deciding to totally scrap the last 18 months and go back to the drawing board in regards to the National Broadband Network, you’d be forgiven for thinking the sun shone out of Rudd’s arse.
Once the confetti has settled and people get over the fact that they think they’ll be able to bypass Telstra, hopefully the questions that need to be answered will start to be asked.
After initially promising a NBN rollout from mid 2008 amongst other lies, we’ve now been given the news that nothing will be rolling out until 2010.
The first problem I have with the announcement is the misleading job creation statement. It’s not like we have thousands of engineering specialists in Australia out of work and to roll out “the single largest infrastructure decision in Australia’s history”, these jobs are just going to wind up being contracted from existing telcos and partially subcontracted from private providers.
Sure a few unemployed might be given the opportunity to work but by and large on a job this large you don’t just hire random unemployed people to design and build it.
Secondly, in the government press release which can be read here, they state that
The Government will make an initial investment in this company but intends to sell down its interest in the company within 5 years after the network is built and fully operational, consistent with market conditions, and national and identity security considerations.
Isn’t this how we got into the current mess with Telstra and the copper network today?
So the government shoulders all the risk and owns 51% of the founding company, builds a wholesale only broadband network over 8 years, let’s it establish itself and weathers any losses and then sells it to some other company who then turn it into Telstra part 2: the fibre era.
If the venture is set to make money the question must be asked just why the hell don’t the government hang onto control of the network? Any private company that gains a 51% share in the network is going to have the same conflict of interest Telstra has with opening up it’s network to competitors whilst trying (and miserably failing) to remain competitive in their own retail offerings.
Don’t get me wrong, i’m glad at least something is being done on this matter as I’m sick and tired of paying a premium for basic more then 50mb a month broadband access. What I don’t want to see though is a repeat of the copper network which was millions of taxpayer funds spent in building the network and then privatisation of the profits, the end restult being the destruction and stagnation of telecommunications in this country at the hands of Telstra.
I can wait 8 years if it means a solid wholesale only competitive network but the government needs to get it’s arse into gear now.
Commence an implementation study to determine the operating arrangements, detailed network design, ways to attract private sector investment—for roll-out early 2010, and ways to provide procurement opportunities for local businesses.
Just what the bloody hell have you idiots been doing for the last freaking eighteen months to warrant another 18+ months of committees and reviews into building the network costing us god knows how much more before anything is done?
Further to that what if the result of the “implementation study” is that it is economically unfeasible with or without the “anticipated” private sector funding to build the government’s proposed fibre to the home network?
What then?
We need action now.
Here in Victoria you only need to look as far as the Labor government’s Myki debacle (2 years overdue and hundreds of millions over budget) to get a feel for just how long a government initiative can be blown out both time and budget wise.
If the private sector hasn’t been able to provide “value for money” in terms of building the network, then it’s obvious that the government plans to do it at an initial massive loss.
Let’s hope today’s announcement on the National Broadband Network isn’t the beginning of another such chapter in Australia’s history and the squandering of billions in taxpayer funding; or worse, taxpayers bearing all the risk and financial outlay for the network only for the private sector to waltz in and carry away all the profit.
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