Thread: National Broadband Network (NBN) What do you know?

I check out the website every couple of months and very little seems to change or be updated.

And I keep being surprised that the largest capital works program ever is providing so little information to the public and getting away with it. By now I was expecting that there'd be lots more places connected and a detailed map and plan of the rollout, same as when adsl was introduced.

Maybe I'm just not looking at the right website.

I am in Adelaide and pay $39.95 per month to Adam Internet for ADSL2+ (actually, they now call it "Adam Direct Light") and get 7GB from 8am to midnight and 7GB from midnight to 8am.

Using speedtest.net just now:
Ping 25ms
Download 2.94Mbps
Upload 0.51Mbps

I am happy with this package. I rarely download a movie or watch heaps of youtube etc.

Will I get better than this (download speed/similar data) for the same or less cost from the NBN?
If not, I don't want it.

Miky,

Most RSP (Retail Service Providers), the guys that Joe Public goes to for their internet, have not worked out their pricing yet, so it is hard to say what they will offer.

The simple fact is, that if you want internet, then you will be on the NBN. ADSL uses the copper network, and this is being re-claimed, so will no longer be available.

As for download speeds, once again, this will depend on the RSP, and what they are offering. I dare say that there will still be a similar range available to what there is now.

Originally Posted by miky

Will I get better than this (download speed/similar data) for the same or less cost from the NBN?
If not, I don't want it.

It's sad that naysayers have lead such a disingenuous campaign that most people don't realise that NBNCo is a wholesale provider of bandwidth, not a retailer.

At NBN Co, our goals are simple - deliver Australia's first national wholesale-only, open access broadband network to all Australians, regardless of where they live.

So basically your ISP will buy wholesale bandwidth from NBNCo which the ISP will then resell to consumers. The details of speeds, data allowances, and cost per month you pay will be determined by what mix the ISP feels will be profitable.

On the politics, I don't get how the fed Government got about $8 billion for the sale of Telstra and now the Fed Government paid Telstra $9 Billion to cut the copper we used to own.

Personally I'm on optus hybrid cable to the node and have been for over a decade, this infrastructure has now been handed over to the NBM, won't be happy if I get to pay more for the same unlimited plan I have now.

The NBN (or something similar) is something that should have happened a decade ago. The situation whereby the main wholesale provider of bandwidth and infrastructure (Telstra) was also competing directly in the retail market with it's wholesale customers was ridiculous.

Telstra's regular appearances at the ACCC to answer charges of anti-competitive behaviour in this market were a good indicator that they were quite prepared to use and abuse their (anti-competitive) position.

$18 million penalty imposed on Telstra

In handing down today’s decision, Justice Middleton noted that Telstra was in an overwhelming position of bargaining strength and "has control over its exchanges and the power to allow or refuse access".

Justice Middleton was critical of Telstra’s compliance policies, "the admitted contraventions demonstrate substantial non-compliance by Telstra with its legal obligations."

He found that in the period from 2006 to 2008: "Telstra took no steps to develop a culture of compliance with its access obligations under the Trade Practices Act and the Telecommunications Act."

"The purpose of access obligations is to encourage downstream competition for the benefit of consumers. The failure to comply with those obligations impedes that competition and therefore harms consumers."

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

On the politics, I don't get how the fed Government got about $8 billion for the sale of Telstra and now the Fed Government paid Telstra $9 Billion to cut the copper we used to own.

Blame Howard and the Liberals. There was substantial pressure from the communications industry to separate Telstra into retail and wholesale businesses even in the late 1990's. The Liberals ignored that pressure and choose to privatise Telstra as one business, for short term political mileage and profit.

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

Personally I'm on optus hybrid cable to the node and have been for over a decade, this infrastructure has now been handed over to the NBM, won't be happy if I get to pay more for the same unlimited plan I have now.

Optus Cable was largely a means of circumventing Telstra control of copper lines into the home. With a ubiquitous, open access, fibre network the necessity for cable internet disappears.

Originally Posted by OffTrack

The NBN (or something similar) is something that should have happened a decade ago. The situation whereby the main wholesale provider of bandwidth and infrastructure (Telstra) was also competing directly in the retail market with it's wholesale customers was ridiculous.

Telstra's regular appearances at the ACCC to answer charges of anti-competitive behaviour in this market were a good indicator that they were quite prepared to use and abuse their (anti-competitive) position.

Don't go blaming Telstra they are a commercial company doing aggressive business to the benefit of Ziggy or whoever is on the board now (forget the shareholders, they are treated no better than customers). Blame the Howard Government when they privatised Telstra and arranged the setup.

The Howard Government should have created seperate companies from the word go. One with the copper in the street and exchanges the other with the retail customers buying bandwidth off the infrastructure company.

A system very much like other transport modes, someone owns the rails and others own the trains.