Australia’s National Broadband Network is gaining international attention. “It puts the country at the forefront of digital technology and communication.” says telecommunications expert Paul Budde.
“It is therefore not surprising to see that the Australian example is being closely monitored by other governments worldwide, particularly in the US and Europe,” he said, “and it is also interesting to see that many countries are already adopting some of the ideas which were initially presented in the Australian NBN model.”
In a deal between the Federal Government and Telstra (Australia’s largest phone company) on the National Broadband Network, Australian consumers will be the winners.
“Co-operation from all parties means that the network can be rolled out cheaper and faster and without ongoing regulatory challenges,” said Budde.
Telstra is now privatized, but remains heavily regulated to promote competition from smaller phone companies that rent access to its existing copper line network.
Minister for Communications, Stephen Conroy said the agreement would allow for “a faster, cheaper, more efficient rollout of the National Broadband Network, with faster take-up”.
Telstra shares rose 7 per cent on the announcement at $3.46, up 20 per cent from a record low of $2.88 hit in March.
Though opposition finance spokesman Andrew Robb said the project was costly and would lump taxpayers with billions of dollars of debt for decades to come, Mr Conroy said taxpayers would benefit “because it reduces the overall cost of building the network and will result in higher take-up rates and revenue for NBN Co.”
“The Government’s plan sees us skipping the halfway house of so called “fibre to the node” which would have seen street cabinets being installed around the country,” says Mr Budde. “The Government will now bring the fibre network straight to people’s homes.
“This network is not just for high-speed Internet and entertainment but, more importantly, for healthcare, education, smart grids, etc,” he said.
The government last year announced a plan to deliver broadband speeds of 100 megabits per second to 90 percent of Australian homes, schools and businesses within eight years through fiber-optic cables connected directly to buildings.
