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At what cost?

What if that service ends up costing the equivalent of $200 to connect (modem etc) plus a further $200mth IN TODAYS DOLLAR$? I want to see WHAT THE LIKELY COST OF THIS SERVICE is likely to be before I wave my hat and dance for this.

Crikey mate, you'd be lucky to get 30% connections at that rate? I know I wouldn't be able to afford it! In which case the cost to householders would have to be subsidised by the gummint, possibly forever to encourage a sufficient % of households to connect to the service in order to cover the massive ongoing maintenance and service costs?

I'll say it again.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THEY WIRE UP 98% OF HOMES AT +43$BILLION - BUT ONLY 30% OF HOUSEHOLDS TAKE UP THE OFFER? Would the resulting "business" then be a massive loss making enterprise?

Would the gummint then have to legislate to make it mandatory that all Australians use the service?

Senator Conroy says the gummint will own the company for at least the next 13 years (8 years proposed build + 5 years after that)!

What if (due to unforeseen major advances in other broadband technologies that may prove cheaper in the timeframe - 4G etc) THIS TURNS OUT TO BE A TOTALLY UNECONOMICAL WHITE ELEPHANT? HOW WILL THE GUMMINT THEN SELL THEIR UNDESIRABLE SHARES?

Well, sure to be sure I might be pushing up daisies by then, but these are also big concerns for future generations to worry about.

The Snowy scheme, railways, roads etc were always going to be a pretty good bet to be of GREAT benefit to most of Australias population.

This scheme is already looking to be based on little more than a pipe dream.

No certainty of funding.
No certainty of takeup.
No certainty of buyback.
No certainty of lack of competition from alternative technology.

Can we save the champagne until some certainty and actual budget estimates come to fruition?
 
MrBurns said:
No it's a good idea but they'll never be able to achieve it, not enough expertise.
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And just where does your expertise in this field lie, Burnsie? Care to enlighten us all so you can validate your "expert" opinion.


 
Can this thing actual make money? or pay of itself? By the time this thing is rolled out there will be some 8 million households (from a google search) and at a guess another 2 million business (guess).

What will the take up rate need to be for this to pay for its self? My very rough back of the envelope calculations tells me its a Big gamble. And bureaucrats have a very poor record picking winners. Its a very big gamble considering that many homes are actually not going to need a wired phone.

I reckon this is a dud. As much as I would like everyone in Oz to instantaneously have a 100 meg cable at their door now I suspect by the time this gets to your door 300 meg wireless to your mobile, that you will be taking with you everywhere, will be the standard.
 

I dont know where to start to address your latest post of nonsensical nasty rubbish, so I won't.

Your posts are worthless drivel, if you're running such a vibrant company what are you doing on forums during business hours ROFL......
 

On Page 1 you were a great believer. What happened?
 
Trembling Hand said:
I reckon this is a dud. .
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To cut to the chase, you're right, if Telstra couldnt put this together the Keystone Cops in Canberra have no hope . they will spend a $billion$ on the feasibility drop the project and hand the bill to us..............as usual.
 
Prospector said:
On Page 1 you were a great believer. What happened?
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No I am on letting the commercials role out whatever they can get investors to put money up for. If it needs a couple of billion from the gov to get it going well I think on balance that's a good use/wise use of tax $'s. But 40 something billion of tax dollars that will take forever and very likely to be steamrolled by coming technologies. Well I am with you. Spend it on something more important.

MrBurns said:
To cut to the chase, you're right, if Telstra couldnt put this together the Keystone Cops in Canberra have no hope . they will spend a $billion$ on the feasibility drop the project and hand the bill to us..............as usual.
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Lets look at what we do know. The gov is saying all the real proposal they got didn't work. From people who actually costed it and have enough expertise in the industry and were going to get part gov money. So there answer to that was what?? Throw a **** more at it and make it the biggest ever project on what basis. I want to see why. Don't believe all the people cheering this. All the anti telstra companies and that's most the nation will cheer this cause there is something very big for them to gain, billions!!

This is not the snowy or rail roads. When the snowy was built we weren't about to get any new tech in a very long time and same with rail that was it for a very long time. This will be different.
 

Cool! : And that it wont be spent (by the Taxpayer/Govt) on something else we need more.
 
So much negativity! Amazing. People have been asking for infrastructure - this is 21st century infrastructure.

Nick Minchum has NO idea - going on about "telephone companies". That's not what this is about - he has absolutely no clue. Most people commenting on this do not seem to understand the difference between a telecommunications network and a data communications one. This new network will be a pure, high bandwidth, optical fibre based data communications network.

To a large extent it will be future proofed, as one of the great things about fibre optics is that you can pick and choose how much bandwidth you gain from each fibre based on the cost/technology used in the media layer equipment that you connect it to. A single fibre can be used cheaply to transmit at speeds of 100Mbs, or for more $$$ several 10Gbps channels can be utilised (via technology like division wave multiplexing WDM etc). Over time the higher bandwidth technologies get cheaper, allowing the networks to evolve and provide more and more bandwidth at a similar cost point over time. Wireless based solutions that some suggest as the "future" can never match this future scalability.

As for the concerns that the government lacks the expertise etc - well Conroy is a muppet - no doubt. If Rudd is smart he will re-shuffle that portfolio quit smart and put someone more capable of running the big picture in there. Regardless, these types of projects are not really done by the government, their departments etc - they will of course invite tenders for the design, supply of equipment, build out etc etc which will all be handled by appropriate private sector expert organisations. As long as the over-all plan remains sensible and the scope doesn't keep changing it will be built successfully IMO. There are risks, it may be delayed etc etc, but then something this big/visionary does not come without risk, but the outcome will be well worth it.

Personally, I also see great opportunities being created by this scheme.

Cheers,

Beej
 
Aussiejeff said:
At what cost?

What if that service ends up costing the equivalent of $200 to connect (modem etc) plus a further $200mth IN TODAYS DOLLAR$? I want to see WHAT THE LIKELY COST OF THIS SERVICE is likely to be before I wave my hat and dance for this.
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I agree with this. What will be the cost of such a service? And by the time it does get rolled out, will there be a more cost effective alternative. Considering how big Australia is how much will the cost of building this blow out?

I suppose we should look to other countries that have this (or something similar) already and see what benefits it brings.
 
Beej said:
Personally, I also see great opportunities being created by this scheme.

Cheers,

Beej
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Yes $50 billion worth of opportunity. That will make anyone in the industry see the benefits
 
Aussiejeff said:
At what cost?

What if that service ends up costing the equivalent of $200 to connect (modem etc) plus a further $200mth IN TODAYS DOLLAR$? I want to see WHAT THE LIKELY COST OF THIS SERVICE is likely to be before I wave my hat and dance for this.
Click to expand...

For a rough guide, look at what FTTH costs right now for those who can get it.
The government plans use the same technology, so they could hit the same price targets.
In current deployments, the developer paid for the fibre to be laid (and rolled it into the land costs)...in the new NBN, the government pays. End user costs should therefore be comparable.

Example:
Opticomm FTTH via Internode - (Minimum $50 per month, $99 setup cost)
(Sorry, can't post links).
 
Was this plan tied in with the backhoe tax deduction? Was it in preparation of digging a lot of trenches
 
Name one project of this magnitude completed successfuly by any Fed Govt - EVER

It's just politics , a good scheme for Rudd because he wont have to deliver on it..........as usual AND can take the credit in advance.
 
I think some people are failing to see the bigger picture on this one. A lot of people may not NEED faster internet right now, but in 5 to 10 years time the rest of the world is not going to slow down and wait for Australia to catch up. It would be a terrible disadvantage to Australia if our broadband infrastructure stagnates for another several years. I liken this to electricity. I bet many people back in the day believed that they did not NEED electricity.

There are many benefits to be had by providing faster broadband services. I suspect the media sector will especially see huge business opportunities as this technology will make it possible to deliver 100% on-demand media - for example. But of course, the benefit to all businesses will be huge.

The question should not be why do we need it now but rather what will happen if we do not have this in the future? This must happen if Australia wants to maintain a successful economy for the future.

Is this a waste of money? Long-term, certainly not. But yes, the figures are staggering and admittedly scary.
 
MrBurns said:
Name one project of this magnitude completed successfuly by any Fed Govt - EVER

It's just politics , a good scheme for Rudd because he wont have to deliver on it..........as usual AND can take the credit in advance.
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Heard of the Snowy Mountains Scheme?? People like you probably harped on about what a waste of money that was, how it would never work etc etc back in the late 40s....

Also what about the creation of the original national telephone system? That was all done by the commonwealth government.

At least they are trying to do something. Your heroes sat there for 11 years and did SFA! M inchum - who was Communications Minister, still thinks that it's all only about a telephone company

Beej
 

I didnt mean projects that were undertaken to provide basic infrastructure, I meant something of this ilk. this is desirable but not life and death.

It's complicated and takes an organization of talent and expertise everything that Rudd and his lackeys aren't

Snowy mountain scheme was easy compared to this and Labor politicians weren't smarmy wimps like they are now.

People like me??????????? what about people like you ! Go spend spend spend, run to the letter box, get a handout, go for it it wont fall back on you will it, and this scheme .........what a pity Rudd's involved, watch it fall over but HEY what the hell, he gets short term popularity doesn't he, thats what this is all about.
 

The gummint plan is to roll out first into the tiny island state of Tasmania, where connection distances are comparatively miniscule. Then they can say "See? It only cost the ave Tassie Devil $xx". Maybe even affordable for some (but the West Coast of Tassie might test them...).

Can you tell me what FTTH will cost to roll out across the VAST expanses of WA?

Will WA country town folk get the service at the same cost as inner Hobartians?

Detail, detail....

 
Normally im the last to defend any politician but I think some people here will dislike every gov decison, no matter what it is.

I think at least this decison is nation building and has actaul value. The least they can do is try and figure out if it will work and if not at least they tried (obviously it wont be as efficient as private industry, but thats something you have to put up with).

With some members here its damned if they do, damned if they dont...
 

Unlikely to be FTTH or even FTTN. However, the plan does make up for this with provisions for Satellite broadband technology improvements. OK, it might have relatively high latency, but it will still be very fast. I'm sure everyone would love a nice high-speed cable to their house, but realistically this just isn't an option.
 
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