Published on the 07/05/2013 | Written by Newsdesk
Communications minister Senator Stephen Conroy has released an updated three-year rollout plan for the National Broadband Network…
He claims the NBN services will be available or will be being made available to a total of 4.8 million premises by 30 June 2016.
The updated plan adds a further 1.36 million premises to the version it replaces. According to NBN Co, the new plan adds almost 190 new towns and groups of suburbs, as well as more homes and businesses in areas covered by the previous plan.
NBN Co claimed also that the FTTH service was being well-received. “In areas where the fibre network has been up and running for more than 12 months, around a third of eligible families have already purchased an NBN package,” it said.
“Furthermore, a third of people with an NBN fibre connection have subscribed to the fastest speeds available [100Mbps downstream]. And households in the NBN fibre footprint are downloading around 50 percent more data than the average Australian broadband user every month.”
In making the announcement, Conroy took a swipe a the Opposition’s recently-released NBN plan claiming that it would “leave millions of Australians disconnected from Labor’s NBN [and] create a digital divide in every suburb.”
However with Labor expected to lose the Federal Election scheduled for September there seems little chance that it will get a chance to deliver on its NBN rollout plan.
Conroy also predicted, without giving any substantiation, a massive increase in household demands for internet services. “By the time today’s Year 7 students finish high school, their household’s internet needs will have increased six-fold,” he said. Nor did he specify whether this figure represented an increase in bandwidth or data volumes.
Predictably Conroy’s announcement was immediately dismissed by shadow communications minister, Malcolm Turnbull, as wishful thinking or downright deceit. He told media in an impromptu press briefing that, “The NBN will be lucky to meet 15 percent of its June 30 target. It was meant to pass, according its own plan, 1.2 million premises by 30 June this year. It will be lucky if it does 15 percent. It’s more likely to be something around 10 percent.”
Turnbull branded the NBN “a colossal failure,” saying, “it is proceeding at a snail’s pace. So far, this year, 2013, it’s been passing 5000 premises a month. Now on that basis it wouldn’t take decades it would take centuries to complete the job.”
Following the announcement, IT news site ZDNet hosted an online debate between Turnbull and Conroy. It degenerated into a slanging match with Turnbull casting doubts on Conroy’s commercial judgment in negotiating the deal with Telstra for its participation in the NBN. (“If Stephen had been competent he would have negotiated an option over the copper instead of leaving it laying worthless in the ground. Regrettably this is the first time he has negotiated a commercial deal, it’s a pity he had to cut his teeth on such a big one …”).
Conroy responded by questioning advice that Turnbull had given in the late 1990s during his time as a corporate lawyer. (“How did the FAI –HIH deal go, Malcolm? That was a cracker! You advised Ray Williams to buy FAI, didn’t you? Great effect on the economy.”)
