Comment - Time to Get Behind Broadband Network

In 2009 the Australian Government announced it would build a world class fibre optic broadband network called the National Broadband Network or NBN. Many of us in the technology industries breathed a sigh of relief, almost disbelief that a national government could be so progressive. (See Central Coast Business Review 7/2009).

Now, sadly, the Coalition at the time of the writing of this article has pledged to stop the NBN rollout, despite broad industry agreement and support.

Dropping the NBN project now, once it’s started, would be a major step backwards for our national and regional economies. Businesses and consumers are becoming increasingly reliant on broadband technology for business and productivity growth.

Even the slowest moving business now utilises the internet in their business in one way or another! Some creative business people are really embracing the technology and creating real value, we only need to read the pages of this publication to regularly see some of these great successes.

What we don’t often read about is the large contribution broadband internet technology is delivering to families, schools and community organisations. Parents are physically commuting less, children are exposed to incredible knowledge not previously available and community groups are delivering more services to more people quicker than ever before.

It is an incredible time we live in, though we are all so involved we don’t notice, because as a whole it’s just happening. So we really should put some mental discipline into considering this part of our future and building some common agreement around broadband access.

I can understand that The Coalition is ideologically opposed to using public money to build infrastructure that private companies are building and supplying. While private investment has and is building broadband infrastructure today, it falls consistently short of supplying an all inclusive network. And a new section of network is like a road, it needs to be connected to other roads. All these private built networks in Australia still rely on old public built infrastructure to deliver services to the vast majority of their customers.

It was in fact the publicly owned Telecom Australia and earlier PMG that built the bulk of what we now use as our broadband network. The nation’s fixed copper line network with all it’s pits, exchanges and towers was transferred to Telstra Corporation at privatisation. Telstra the private corporation now builds out this network and rents it out to all of us, in one form or another.

The National Broadband Network with its plans on replacing the aging copper network is arguably the most significant business investment in the country for the next 50 years.

The NBN will be a neutral wholesale supplier and will allow private broadband service companies to value add and sell their services to everyone. Because the NBN will connect all the markets in the nation together at incredible speed,it will vastly expand local market places and create profitable new services in healthcare, education, entertainment, security, research, culture and the arts.
The Coalition should re-think their opposition to the NBN and get on board what will/could become the greatest business catalyst in our time.

On the Central Coast a super fast broadband network will have a larger influence than most of metropolitan Sydney, where services are close by. Our region's greatest benefits will be in our ability to access what are best described as High Definition Services. These are most apparent in health and education sectors, later other sectors in service production and delivery will benefit.

Our everyday experience of the services delivered via the internet will reach new levels. I believe it will result in less commuting, more local economic spend and social development and, at the time of writing, a regional NBN roll out plan has just been published. On the face of it most of the Central Coast East of the F3 will have a fibre optic connection. The remaining areas will rely on an extended wireless coverage.

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