{"id":54945,"date":"2023-10-20T16:29:26","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T16:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/turnbulls-plan-to-speed-up-the-delivery-of-australias-broadband-network-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T16:29:26","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T16:29:26","slug":"turnbulls-plan-to-speed-up-the-delivery-of-australias-broadband-network-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/turnbulls-plan-to-speed-up-the-delivery-of-australias-broadband-network-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Turnbull’s plan to speed up the delivery of Australia’s broadband network – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
The number of people involved in Australia\u2019s national broadband network (nbn) is set to double to about 9,000 after Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull this week announced plans<\/a> to recruit and train an extra 4,500 workers.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n This will make it even faster to roll out the rest of the national broadband network, and no doubt symbolises the Coalition\u2019s leaner, quicker-to-roll-out version of the original NBN \u2013 re-branded earlier this year as a lower-case nbn for a reported A$700,000<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n But why the rush?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Let\u2019s have a look at what has been achieved in the past six years.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Howard Government struggled<\/a> with all things internet. Australia had \u201cfraudband<\/a>\u201d because it was too expensive and slow.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Then Opposition leader, Kevin Rudd, said a national broadband network<\/a> was \u201cnation-building for the 21st century\u201d. And after Labor\u2019s election, NBN Co was born on April 9, 2009.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n However, the NBN took a back seat due to Labor\u2019s leadership turmoil. Except when the Coalition poked fun at the NBN<\/a> for taking too long. NBN Co blamed its partners<\/a> and then its boss quit<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Things were going downhill.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Coalition\u2019s cost-benefit analysis<\/a>, released almost a year ago, found Labor\u2019s NBN was extravagant. NBN was stripped back by changing Labor\u2019s fibre-to-the-home model to a multi-technology mix (MTM) model. Slower speeds but rolled out faster \u2013 that was the plan.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Now Turnbull is having a bob each way with the broadband network<\/a>. Finish the bits already started with fibre, then finish the bits that haven\u2019t been started yet using multiple and ultimately cheaper technologies. Makes sense.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Although he would probably prefer to let the market sort it all out<\/a>. If people want broadband, then somebody will sell it to them. Except maybe in the bush. Then the government should help make it work. Kevin07 thought government could do it all better<\/a> \u2013 that\u2019s why he set up NBN.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n So Turnbull had little choice but to continue with the contracts set up by Labor. That\u2019s the trouble with building things: it\u2019s expensive to change your mind once the building starts.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s also hard to tear up contracts once they\u2019ve started. Do this too many times and big business might stop building things for you. And when you are a politician, this makes you look bad<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The whole point of NBN was to fix the \u201cfraudband\u201d. Now we have nbn with a MTM. Occasionally the Coalition still struggles with internet things<\/a>, but not Turnbull<\/a>. He wants to ensure Australia gets the nbn sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Well, it depends. The whole point of spending billions of dollars on NBN (nbn) was to give Australians better access to faster broadband. Since last election, NBN was available to 1 in 50 households. Now nbn is available to 1 in 10. Things are looking up.<\/p>\n But how do we stack up against other countries?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I usually compare Australia with Canada, but it can be helpful to compare Australia with other countries in the OECD<\/a> too. This is how Australia fared before Kevin07:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\nIn the beginning\u2026<\/h2>\n
From NBN to nbn<\/h2>\n
How are we travelling?<\/h2>\n