WHAT THE ELECTION RESULT MEANS FOR BROADBAND The Coalition’s broadband policy has come a long way since the 2010 election. Three years ago, Abbott was vowing to demolish the NBN. Now, at least, the Coalition is actually planning to build a broadband network. However, the demise of the visionary, future-proof fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) network means the nation has regrettably lost a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fully reap the benefits of the global digital economy. One can only hope that once the dust settles, the Coalition will realise how foolish it would be to miss the opportunity for Australia to acquire a world-class FTTP network. The Coalition is unlikely to do a total policy about-face. But if good sense prevails, it will modify its plans so that the network is not too far removed from the original FTTP vision. In areas where Telstra’s copper network is unable to support fibre-to-the-node technology, for example, FTTP could be rolled out instead. Another possibility is the new G.Fast technology – due to be available in 2014 – which provides performance close to FTTP. Overall, the key challenge for the Coalition is to build a network that meets Australia’s ever-growing appetite for broadband and does not become obsolete by the time it is completed. Written by: Rod Tucker, Laureate Professor, Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society at the University of Melbourne:
Posted on: Mon, 09 Sep 2013 03:55:11 +0000
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