What do we need
What we need is a competitive wholesale market with multiple (more than 2) providers competing to provide the most cost effective wholesale service at the appropriate quality level. What we don't need is a politically motivated marketing that obfuscates the facts. Creating monopolies is bad for everybody.
What we can get now are pieces of kit that will allow up to 400 MB/s (based on what is currently being sold to connect to Telstra broadband) but is limited and shaped by what the telcos are willing sell (configuration). What we get under NBN is kit that can connect at 100 MB/s (futures of 1GB), or for those areas with viable LTE coverage is up to about 80 MB/s. What we can’t get is universal coverage at the above levels. That is the core issue, it just isn’t commercially viable.
Where it is not economically viable (i.e. rural and remote areas) the government has a role in assisting to ensure all people have access to services that meet their needs at a cost that is fair. Fair unfortunately is hard to define. If we had the numbers, the facts and the proposed benefits then at least we could see if what the NBN is meant to be solving is firstly fair and secondly affordable. If it were refocused on solving the inequality of service coverage for those outside the high profit areas of cities then may be a worthwhile money sink.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
