National Broadband Network: Northern Rivers Update

 

23.08.10 Election result leaves NBN in question

While we await the final figures of Election 2010, it's interesting to know the opinions of the 3-4 independents and one Green (who most likely will hold the balance of power in the house of reps) on the NBN.

Tony Windsor ("Country" Independent, Tamworth, seat of New England)

Tony Windsor has clearly expressed his support for improved communication services in country areas. He shares the view with Caretaker PM Gillard that better broadband services will improve access to health services for all Australians, especially for access to health specialists. Windsor indicated that his biggest concern outside the stability of government was "health, health, health and health" and he sees an important role for the NBN in improved health service delivery to his constituents. 

Bob Katter ("Country" Independent, Townsville, seat of Kennedy)

Bob Katter has also expressed support for an NBN as part of his vision for saving rural Australia.

Robert Oakeshott ("Country" Independent, Port Macquarie, seat of Lyne)

Was able to demonstrate in the days preceding the election just how poor the telecommunication services were in his area when he could not get a live link for his interview on the ABC's 7.30 Report and had to do the whole interview by phone. He was thwarted again at a subsequent ABC interview where he was relegated to using the phone once again. He took this obvious opportunity to point out that far better broadband links were sorely needed in his area and his support for the NBN plan. 

Andrew Wilkie ("Green" Independent, Hobart, seat of Denison)

Is in favour of the NBN as part of essential economic infrastructure now and into the future.

Adam Bandt (The Greens, seat of Melbourne)

The Greens support the NBN but want to keep it as a public asset rather than selling it to private interests five years after completion. The Greens think keeping the NBN in public hands will ensure equality of access into the future for all Australians regardless of whether they live in urban, regional or rural areas. It's possible Bandt has some amendments in mind for the NBN privatisation plan.  However, Bandt has also stated that he would not align himself with the Coalition so he has slightly less bargaining power if the Coalition forms Government. Nevertheless the Greens will hold balance of power in the Senate so any legislation under consideration may be amended in that house, however any amendment must again be supported in the House of Reps to pass.  

Linear G's Prediction

We don't know whether there will be a minority or majority Government nor which major party will end up in power. However, it does seem certain that if it's the ALP, the NBN should go ahead with perhaps fewer problems then may have gone on with the ALP only in control of the rollout due to likely scrutiny by the independents and Green. If it's the Coalition, maybe they will reconsider their position on their 'poor cousin wireless plan' in order to secure the support of the independents. But they will definetly need to make some big cuts elsewhere in their policy promises in order to fund equivelent broadband services to the NBN.

Will the NBN go ahead? We don't know for sure, but taking into consideration the positions of the five potentially most powerful politicians in Australia, all of whom support better access to Broadband for all Australians, we'd say there's a much better chance that the NBN, or something closely resembling it will go ahead even with a Coalition Government in power. So for all those feverishly waiting for the NBN, you can probably relax for now.     

11.09.10 the ICT Debate - Linear Gs' 2 cents.

Yesterday the National Press Club held a debate on the ICT policies of the political contestants for the upcoming election. Minister for Broadband Senator Steve Conroy, Shadow Minister Tony Smith and Greens Senator Scott Ludlam spelt out their policies for rolling out high speed broadband services, views on "net nanny" or internet filtering and cyber crime policing.

Here's how Linear G rated the various party policies:

Greens: Support the NBN but want to keep it as a public asset. Linear G believes this will keep prices low and maintain fair access to the NBN for ISPs of all sizes. The Greens also do not support internet censorship and nor do we because it simply does not work and will slow down internet speeds for all other users. Other forms of policing will be far more effective.

Labor: Support NBN but want to privatise in 5 years. Private interests will always seek greater profitability and we may end up with a second virtual monopoly situation as we have with Telstra now. Labor also want to introduce internet censorship which we think will be a big waste of tax payer dollars and will simply make the criminals harder to catch. 

Liberal: The worst plan of all, especially for regional areas. Liberals will scrap the NBN plan altogether instead preferring to invest in improving "backbone" to regional areas. Basically this means that there will be a larger pipe allowing faster speeds into regional centres, BUT it does not address last mile "fibre to the home" which is where much of the current drop off in internet speeds occur. The minimum speed Australians can expect under this plan will be 12MBPS as a download speed. However, Minister Conroy was not very effective in pointing out the problem with this: upload would be much slower, around 2MBPS. This causes all sorts of problems for the types of internet technology we aspire to use in regional areas. A simple illustration is video conferencing: for video conferencing to work, upload and download speeds should ideally be the same, so that data is delivered to each recipient in real time, at the same time. Many new internet technologies including those developed to improve health and education simply will not function at 12/2MBPS. As for a net nanny, at least the Liberals understand that it will not work and instead they intend to invest in beefing up cyber crime policing which is OK by us. 

11.09.10 Libs release broadband policy:

By 2016 Australia will achieve a national broadband baseline, under which 97 percent of premises are able to be served by high-speed networks capable of delivering from 100 Mbps down to a minimum of 12 Mbps peak speed, using a combination of technologies including HFC, DSL, and fixed wireless.

Source:  http://www.liberal.org.au/Latest-News/2010/08/10/Real-Action-on-Broadband.aspx

02.08.10 NBN Map Released: click here for details

30.07.10 300,000 Extra Properties to Receive NBN Cable:

The Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Communications Minister Stephen Conroy will release a series of maps showing which towns and regions will receive fibre, wireless or satellite technology to hook them up to the $43 billion network.

Senator Conroy, Minister for Communications was quoted this morning "The Government has extended NBN Co's fibre coverage objective from 90 per cent to 93 per cent of homes, schools, hospitals and businesses. And this means an extra 300,000, an extra 300,000 extra premises will receive fibre optic broadband which is great news right across Australia".

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2010/s2968486.htm

When is the NBN coming to the Northern Rivers?

This is a difficult question to answer with any certainty. A guesstimation based on the time estimates applied to the first two release sites indicates that the NBN could be anywhere from 3-5 years away from initiation on the Far North Coast of NSW.

Will I be able to get NBN services from Linear G?

YES. Linear G will offer a full range of cable services, delivering speeds of up to 100Mbps, that's at least 5 times faster than ADSL2. 

If I'm in contract for Linear G ADSL2, will I be penalised if I to switch to cable?

No. We at Linear G like to look after our valued customers. We certainlly will not penalise you for staying with Linear G. You will be able to switch over to cable without paying any outstanding ADSL2 contract period.

Has the Northern Rivers been identified as a priority area for the NBN rollout?

In a word, no.

The first release sites will be in

• A part of the suburb of Brunswick in Melbourne
• An area of Townsville covering parts of the suburbs of Aitkenvale and Mundingburra
• The coastal communities of Minnamurra and Kiama Downs south of Wollongong
• An area of west Armidale, NSW, including the University of New England
• The rural town of Willunga in South Australia

The first release sites were announced in March this year. Following detailed design work, NBN Co expects construction to commence this month (June 2010) in the first release areas.

The second release sites will be in

• Victoria - Bacchus Marsh, South Morang (Melbourne);
• Queensland - Brisbane (inner north), Springfield Lakes, Toowoomba;
• NSW - Riverstone (western Sydney), Coffs Harbour;
• South Australia - Modbury, Prospect;
• Western Australia - Victoria Park (Perth), Geraldton, Mandurah;
• Northern Territory - Casuarina; and
• ACT - Gungahlin

Construction in the second release locations is scheduled to commence in the second quarter of 2011.

Reasons the Northern Rivers is unlikely to be identified as a priority for NBN roll out

a) There is competitive backhaul available to the area

b) Metro equivalent broadband is readily available (most exchanges ADSL2+ enabled)

c) The RIM and/or pair gain density is not very high for any given local population density

How will the NBN wholesale model work?

Especially for IT geeks....