National Broadband Network FTTH next-generation broadband – why see it as a waste?

This morning, I listened to the ABC 11am news broadcast and read an article in “The Age” about the National Broadband Network being established in Tasmania on time and under budget (which I had written a post about). There was the typical response from the Liberal-Party / National-Party Opposition about it being a waste of money even though there was around a 50% takeup of the service according to these news reports.

The Opposition need to look beyond the perceived waste of money by assessing the value that the infrastructure will bring to that area. One thing I always think of in relation to any improved-broadband technology is that it could increase the area’s attractiveness to business or education / research. Then, whenever there are major employers in that state that support these high-value industries, there is also the likelihood of supporting businesses becoming established in order to serve the employees in these industries.

As I have said in previous posts on this site, it would be worth that the Opposition looks at countries who are deploying FTTH broadband setups like France and observe how many people are taking up these services. They should look at fibre-copper setups like Germany’s VDSL2 services and see whether these are also being set up to be future-proof with FTTH fibre.

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  1. Doug Robertson 22/09/2010

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