tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/national-broadband-network-3560/articlesNational Broadband Network – The Conversation2021-09-17T03:55:26Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1673622021-09-17T03:55:26Z2021-09-17T03:55:26ZWhy does my internet connection feel slow and jumpy, even when my internet speed is high?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421759/original/file-20210917-27-slj4h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C40%2C5472%2C3530&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jeshoots.com/Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Of the 8.2 million homes and businesses active on Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN) in July 2021, 77% are now <a href="https://www.nbnco.com.au/corporate-information/about-nbn-co/updates/dashboard-july-2021">reported</a> to be on a broadband plan that delivers speeds of at least 50 megabits per second (Mbps). This is plenty to accommodate a typical household’s needs for video streaming (Netflix high-definition resolution, for instance, uses about 3Mbps and ultra-high definition about 12Mbps), video conferencing (2-3Mbps), gaming (less than 1Mbps) and general web browsing. </p>
<p>So why do we still experience video freeze, game lag spikes, and teleconference stutters? The problem is not speed, but other factors such as latency and loss, which are unrelated to speed.</p>
<p>For more than three decades we have been conditioned to think of broadband in terms of Mbps. This made sense when we had dial-up internet, over which web pages took many seconds to load, and when DSL lines could not support more than one video stream at a time. </p>
<p>But once speeds approach 100Mbps and beyond, studies from the <a href="https://www.broadband-forum.org/an-economic-argument-for-moving-away-from-mbps">Broadband Forum</a> and others show that further increases are largely imperceptible to users.</p>
<p>Yet Australian consumers fear being caught short on broadband speed. More than half a million Australians moved to plans delivering <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/record-number-of-australians-move-to-very-high-speed-nbn-plans">more than 250Mbps</a> in the March 2021 quarter. Indeed, we have collectively bought about 410 terabits per second (Tbps) on our speed plans, while actual usage peaks at 23Tbps. This suggests we collectively use less than 6% of the speed we pay for! </p>
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<p>In contrast to our need for speed, our online time has grown tremendously. According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the average Australian household <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Internet%20Activity%20Report%20%28December%202020%29.pdf">consumed 355 gigabytes of data in December 2020</a>, a 59% increase on the year before. </p>
<p>Our internet usage is like a marathon runner gradually adding more and more miles to their training distances, rather than a sprinter reaching higher and higher top speeds. It therefore makes little sense to judge our multi-hour marathon of video streaming, gaming and teleconferencing by running a connection speed test which is a 5-10 second sprint. </p>
<h2>What do we really need from broadband?</h2>
<p>So what do we need from our broadband for a good streaming, gaming or conferencing experience? A connection that offers low and relatively constant <em>latency</em> (the time taken to move data packets from the server to your house) and <em>loss</em> (the proportion of data packets that are lost in transit). </p>
<p>These factors in turn depend on how well your internet service provider (ISP) has engineered and tuned its network.</p>
<p>To reduce latency, your ISP can deploy local caches that store a copy of the videos you want to watch, and local game servers to host your favourite e-sport titles, thereby reducing the need for long-haul transport. They can also provide good routing paths to servers, thereby avoiding poor-quality or congested links. </p>
<p>To manage loss, ISPs “shape” their traffic by temporarily holding packets in buffers to smooth out transient load spikes. But there’s a natural trade-off here: too much smoothing holds packets back, leading to latency spikes that cause missed gunshots in games and stutters in conferences. Too little smoothing, on the other hand, causes buffers to overflow and packets to be lost, which puts the brakes on downloads.</p>
<p>ISPs therefore have to tune their network to balance performance across the various applications. But with the ACCC’s <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/internet-landline-services/broadband-performance-data">Measuring Broadband Australia (MBA) Program</a> predominantly focused on speed-testing, and with a 1% margin separating the top three ISPs all keen to claim the top spot, we are inadvertently incentivising ISPs to optimise their network for speed, rather than for other factors. </p>
<p>This is a detrimental outcome for users, because we don’t really have quite the need for speed we think we do.</p>
<h2>How can we do better?</h2>
<p>An alternative approach is possible. With advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technology, it is now becoming possible to analyse network traffic streams to assess users’ experience in an application-aware manner. </p>
<p>For example, AI engines trained on the pattern of video “chunk” fetches of <a href="http://www2.ee.unsw.edu.au/%7Evijay/pubs/conf/19tma.pdf">on-demand streams</a> such as Netflix, and <a href="http://www2.ee.unsw.edu.au/%7Evijay/pubs/conf/21iwqos.pdf">live streams</a> such as Twitch, can infer whether they are playing at the best available resolution and without freeze. </p>
<p>Similarly, AI engines can <a href="https://www.ausnog.net/sites/default/files/ausnog-2019/presentations/2.1_Vijay_Sivaraman_AusNOG2019.pdf">analyse traffic</a> throughout the various stages of games such as CounterStrike, Call of Duty or Dota2 to track issues such as lag spikes. And they can detect videoconferencing stutters and dropouts by analysing traffic on Zoom, Teams, and other platforms.</p>
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<p>Australia has made significant public investment into a national broadband infrastructure that is now well equipped to provide more-than-adequate speed to citizens, as long as it runs as efficiently as possible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167362/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>In addition to his academic appointment, Vijay Sivaraman is co-founder and part-time CEO of Canopus Networks, which develops network traffic analytics software. He has received funding from many organisations including Google, Cisco, HPE, Optus, Telstra, NBN, Canopus and ACCAN. He is affiliated with the IEEE.</span></em></p>You can measure the speed of your broadband connection, but that’s not the whole story. Your network provider also has to manage factors such as data loss and latency to ensure a smooth connection.Vijay Sivaraman, Professor of Telecommunications and Internet Technologies, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1467492020-09-23T08:03:32Z2020-09-23T08:03:32ZNBN upgrades explained: how will they make internet speeds faster? And will the regions miss out?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359501/original/file-20200923-24-1mjhi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=86%2C51%2C3748%2C2103&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The federal government has announced a A$3.5 billion upgrade to the National Broadband Network (NBN) that will grant two million households on-demand access to faster fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) internet by 2023. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-23/nbn-to-be-extended-to-millions-under-$3.5bn-fttp-plan/12692082?nw=0">Reports from</a> <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-23/nbn-upgrade-is-your-internet-about-to-get-faster/12692854">the ABC</a> suggest the plan would go as far as to upgrade the FTTN services to fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) – although this wasn’t explicitly said in Minister for Communications Paul Fletcher’s <a href="https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/fletcher/media-release/45-billion-nbn-investment-bring-ultra-fast-broadband-millions-families-and-businesses-and-create-25000-jobs">announcement</a>.</p>
<p>The minister said the upgrade would involve expanding current FTTN connections to run along more streets across the country, giving people the option to connect to broadband speeds of up to one gigabit per second. Improvements have also <a href="https://www.paulfletcher.com.au/media-releases/joint-media-release-45-billion-nbn-investment-to-bring-ultra-fast-broadband-to">been promised</a> for the hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) and fibre-to-the-curb (FTTC) systems.</p>
<p>Altogether the upgrade is <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-23/nbn-co-shake-up-upgrade-network-millions-more-access/12691782">expected to</a> give about six million households access to internet speeds of up to one gigabit per second. But how will the existing infrastructure be boosted? And who will miss out?</p>
<h2>Getting ahead of the terminology</h2>
<p>Let’s first understand the <a href="https://www.aussiebroadband.com.au/blog/fttp-vs-fttn-connections-national-broadband-network-explained/">various terms</a> used to describe aspects of the NBN network. </p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.nbnco.com.au/learn/network-technology/fibre-to-the-premises-explained-fttp">Fibre to the Premises</a></strong> (FTTP)</p>
<p>FTTP refers to households with an optical fibre connection running from a device on a wall of the house directly to the network. This provides reliable high-speed internet.</p>
<p>The “network” simply refers to the exchange point from which households’ broadband connections are passed to service providers, such as Telstra, who help them get connected. </p>
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<span class="caption">In an FTTP network, fibre optic connectors in the back of distribution hub panels connect homes to broadband services.</span>
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<p><strong><a href="https://www.nbnco.com.au/learn/network-technology/fibre-to-the-node-explained-fttn">Fibre to the Node</a></strong> (FTTN)</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco2/2019/documents/media-centre/corporate-plan-report-2020-2023.pdf">The FTTN</a> system serves about 4.7 million premises in Australia, out of a total 11.5 million covered under the NBN.</p>
<p>With FTTN, households are connected via a copper line to a “node” in their neighbourhood. This node is further connected to the network with <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/10/21/3044463.htm">fibre optic cables</a> that transfer data much faster than copper cables can.</p>
<p>With FTTN systems, the quality of the broadband service depends on the length of the copper cable and the choice of technology used to support data transmission via this cable. </p>
<p>It’s <em>technically</em> possible to offer high internet speeds when copper cables are very short and <a href="https://www.nbnco.com.au/blog/the-nbn-project/nbn-co-plugs-in-first-gfast-units-across-Australia">the latest data transmission technologies</a> are used. </p>
<p>In reality, however, Australia’s FTTN speeds using a fibre/copper mix have <a href="https://www.speedtest.net/global-index">been slow</a>. An FTTN connection’s reliability also depends on network conditions, such as the age of the copper cabling and whether any of the signal is leaking due to degradation.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359509/original/file-20200923-20-1kf94wy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Illustration of fibre optic cables." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359509/original/file-20200923-20-1kf94wy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359509/original/file-20200923-20-1kf94wy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359509/original/file-20200923-20-1kf94wy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359509/original/file-20200923-20-1kf94wy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359509/original/file-20200923-20-1kf94wy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359509/original/file-20200923-20-1kf94wy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359509/original/file-20200923-20-1kf94wy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Fibre optic cables use pulses of light for high-speed data transmission across long distances.</span>
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<p><strong><a href="https://www.nbnco.com.au/learn/network-technology/fibre-to-the-curb-explained-fttc">Fibre to the Curb</a></strong> (FTTC)</p>
<p>The limitations of FTTN mentioned above can be sidestepped by extending fibre cables from the network right up to a curbside “distribution point unit” nearer to households. This unit then becomes the “node” of the network. </p>
<p>FTTC allows significantly faster data transmission. This is because it services relatively fewer households (allowing better signal transmission to each one) and reduces the length of copper cable relied upon.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.nbnco.com.au/learn/network-technology/hybrid-fibre-coaxial-explained-hfc-3">Hybrid Fibre Coaxial</a></strong> (HFC)</p>
<p>In many areas, the NBN uses coaxial cables instead of copper cables. These were <a href="https://www.nbnco.com.au/blog/the-nbn-project/hfc-everything-you-need-to-know">first installed</a> by Optus and Telstra in the 1990s to deliver cable broadband and television. They’ve since been modernised for use in the NBN’s fibre network. </p>
<p>In theory, HFC systems should be able to offer internet speeds of more than 100 megabits per second. But many households have been <a href="https://www.itnews.com.au/news/telstra-stops-offering-100mbps-services-for-nbn-fttn-b-c-users-538601#:%7E:text=Telstra%20has%20stopped%20offering%20100Mbps,plan%20when%20connecting%20through%20Telstra.">unable to achieve</a> this due to the poor condition of cabling infrastructure in some parts, as well as large numbers of households sharing a single coaxial cable. </p>
<p>Coaxial cables are the most limiting part of the HFC system. So expanding the length of fibre cabling (and shortening the coaxial cables being used) would allow faster internet speeds. The NBN’s 2020 <a href="https://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco2/2019/documents/media-centre/corporate-plan-report-2020-2023.pdf">corporate plan</a> identifies doing this as a priority.</p>
<p>Minister Fletcher today said the planned upgrades would ensure all customers serviced by HFC would have access to speeds of up to one gigabit per second. Currently, only <a href="https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-limits-gigabit-services-to-just-7-percent-of-hfc-footprint-548704">7%</a> of HFC customers do.</p>
<h2>Mixing things up isn’t always a good idea</h2>
<p>Under the <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id:%22media/pressrel/PS8T6%22">original NBN plan</a>, the Labor government in 2009 promised optical fibre connections for 93% of all Australian households. </p>
<p>Successive reviews led to the use of multiple technologies in the network, rather than the full-fibre network Labor envisioned. Many households are not able to upgrade their connection because of limitations to the technology available in their neighbourhood. </p>
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<p>Also, many businesses currently served by FTTN can’t access internet speeds that meet their needs. To avoid internet speeds hindering their work, many <a href="https://www.business.org/services/internet/business-internet-speed/">businesses need</a> a minimum speed between <a href="https://www.business.org/services/internet/business-internet-speed/">100 megabits and 1 gigabit per second</a>, depending on their <a href="https://www.whistleout.com.au/Broadband/Guides/broadband-speeds-how-fast-do-you-need">scale</a>. </p>
<p>Currently, no <a href="https://www.whistleout.com.au/Broadband/Guides/broadband-speeds-how-fast-do-you-need">FTTN services</a> and <a href="https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-limits-gigabit-services-to-just-7-percent-of-hfc-footprint-548704">few HFC services</a> can support such speeds.</p>
<p>Moreover, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/MBA_Report%209.pdf">NBN monitoring report</a> published in May (during the pandemic) found in about 95% of cases, NBN plans only delivered 83-91% of the maximum advertised speed. </p>
<p>The report also showed 10% of the monitored services were underperforming – and 95% of these were FTTN services. This makes a strong case for the need to upgrade FTTN. </p>
<h2>Who will benefit?</h2>
<p>While the NBN’s most <a href="https://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco2/2019/documents/media-centre/corporate-plan-report-2020-2023.pdf">recent corporate plan</a> identifies work to be done across its various offerings (FTTN, FTTC, HFC, fixed wireless), it’s unclear exactly how much each system stands to gain from today’s announcements.</p>
<p>Ideally, urban and regional households that can’t access 100 megabits per second speeds would be prioritised for fibre expansion. The expanded FTTN network should also cover those <a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/tech/2020/05/12/nbn-regional-broadband-tax-gig-state/">struggling to access</a> reliable broadband in regional Australia. </p>
<p>Bringing fibre cabling to households in remote areas would be difficult. One option, however, could be to extend fibre connections to an expanded network of base stations in regional Australia, thereby improving the NBN’s <a href="https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-starts-testing-feasibility-of-mm-wave-for-future-fixed-wireless-546603">fixed wireless connectivity</a> capacity. </p>
<p>These base stations “beam” signals to nearby premises. Installing more stations would mean fewer premises covered by each (and therefore better connectivity for each). </p>
<p>Regardless, it’s important the upgrades happen quickly. Many NBN customers now working and studying from home will be waiting eagerly for a much-needed boost to their internet speed.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-boost-your-internet-speed-when-everyone-is-working-from-home-135313">How to boost your internet speed when everyone is working from home</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146749/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas receives funding from the Australian Research Council through its competitive grant schemes (Discovery Projects, Linkage Projects, and Linkage Infrastructure and Equipment Facilities). He has also received funding from the State Government of Victoria for initiatives he has provided leadership. He has also collaborated with industry partners such as AT&T, Ericsson, Nokia, Google, NBN, InstaWireless, Digital Falcon, and Transurban and received industry research funding to research projects. </span></em></p>Millions of households are expected to gain access to upgraded internet connections, with speeds of up to one gigabit per second (if you’re willing to pay for the plan).Thas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas, Group Head - Electronic and Photonic Systems Group and Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1237502019-09-19T20:53:04Z2019-09-19T20:53:04ZVital Signs: NBN’s new price plans are too little, too late<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293130/original/file-20190919-53549-x8wl6h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lack of speed kills: finally NBN Co is thinking about a genuinely 21st century offering for customers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This week NBN Co <a href="https://www2.nbnco.com.au/corporate-information/media-centre/media-statements/nbn-co-proposes-big-discounts-to-wholesale-prices">announced pricing changes</a> for the National Broadband Network. </p>
<p>It includes a new plan boasting a download speed of 1 gigabit per second and an upload speed of 50 megabits per second for $80 a month.</p>
<p>These are 20-fold improvements on the maximum NBN speeds now. Almost a decade since the first customers were connected, NBN Co is thinking about a genuinely 21st century offering in terms of speed and price.</p>
<p>The NBN is late, over budget and slow. <a href="https://www.speedtest.net/global-index">Australia places 58th globally</a> for fixed-line broadband speed. Not only do the NBN’s advertised speeds lag international standards but the actual speeds often don’t come close to what is promised. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/logged-out-farmers-in-far-north-queensland-are-being-left-behind-by-the-digital-economy-121743">Logged out: farmers in Far North Queensland are being left behind by the digital economy</a>
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<p>Customer interest as a result has been unenthusiastic. NBN Co may well need to take a massive write-down on its assets because they don’t look like they’re worth <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/nbn-write-down-inevitable-after-disastrous-rollout-says-ex-boss-20190204-p50vl7.html">A$50 billion</a>. </p>
<p>All of this was entirely predictable, based on politicians failing to remember three basic lessons from Economics 101.</p>
<h2>1: Technology often outstrips imagination</h2>
<p>The history of innovation is littered with examples of remarkably important things being invented with no clear purpose in mind, or by accident, and then exceeding our wildest expectations. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.healio.com/endocrinology/news/print/endocrine-today/%7B15afd2a1-2084-4ca6-a4e6-7185f5c4cfb0%7D/penicillin-an-accidental-discovery-changed-the-course-of-medicine">Penicillin</a> and <a href="https://charlesgoodyear101.weebly.com/vulcanized-rubber.html">vulcanised rubber</a> (which led to the tyre for automobiles) were both invented by accident. The <a href="https://home.cern/science/computing/birth-web">world wide web</a> was developed as a means of communication among particle physicists. Most of us carry around in our pocket a computer (mobile phone) <a href="https://medium.com/@diego./cray-2-v-iphone-xs-fight-6f05b494efe1">roughly as powerful than the world’s faster supercomputer circa 1985</a>. Those have turned out to be pretty useful.</p>
<p>When the Coalition decided to scuttle Labor’s NBN plan for fibre-optic cable to every premises, on the basis that “fibre-to-the-node” and using existing copper telephone wires to the premises would be much cheaper, this is what the chief spruiker of the Coalition’s NBN plan, Malcolm Turnbull, <a href="https://www.arnnet.com.au/article/366036/turnbull_why_should_taxpayers_fund_43b_nbn_better_hd_video_streaming_/">said about broadband needs</a> in 2010:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There isn’t much or anything you can do with 100 Mbps that you can’t do with 12 Mbps for residential customers.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The breathtaking lack of insight and imagination in this comment is responsible in no small part for the Flintstonian broadband infrastructure Australia now has.</p>
<p>Prioritising speed of roll-out (which hasn’t even happened) over speed of internet (which sure has happened) was a massive mistake.</p>
<h2>2: Positives justify subsidies</h2>
<p>You having fast internet is good for me when we connect. When consumers can connect quickly to a business’s website that’s good for the business. It makes it more profitable for businesses to invest in their internet operations. This has benefits for other consumers and even other businesses.</p>
<p>A great illustration of this is in Dunedin, New Zealand, where there have been all sorts of business-to-business spillovers from the city having the <a href="https://www.glimp.co.nz/blog/broadband/where-is-the-fastest-internet-in-nz">fastest internet speeds</a> in Australasia. The ABC’s <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/4corners/whats-wrong-with-the-nbn/9077900">Four Corners program</a> has highlighted how this has revolutionised New Zealand’s video-game development industry, among other things. </p>
<p>Economists call spillover effects to third parties externalities. Pollution is a negative externality, while the benefit of fast internet is a positive externality.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/digital-inclusion-in-tasmania-has-improved-in-line-with-nbn-rollout-will-the-other-states-follow-102257">Digital inclusion in Tasmania has improved in line with NBN rollout – will the other states follow?</a>
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<p>A sound business model for the NBN ought to recognise the positive externalities and ensure they are incorporated into the price mechanism, by offering a partial subsidy to encourage people to sign up. Like the reverse of a carbon price.</p>
<p>One of the NBN’s key problems is the way successive governments structured national investment in it. Setting up NBN Co as a quasi-corporate entity needing to make a commercial rate of return on the roughly A$50 billion investment in the network was a huge mistake. It was the opposite of providing a subsidy.</p>
<p>The telecommunications companies who retail the NBN have complained that NBN Co’s wholesale price points mean it is hard for resellers to make a profit. It’s a kind of quality death spiral: an unattractive product means fewer people buy it, leading to the product getting worse, leading to even fewer people buying it.</p>
<h2>3: Uniform pricing doesn’t work</h2>
<p>Finally, it’s never a good idea to charge everyone the same price when there are different costs to serve different people.</p>
<p>The idea was that higher returns from easy-to-service city homes would subsidise the higher costs of service homes in regional and remote areas. But city homes, precisely because they are cheaper to service, have other options. If not enough city customers signed up to the NBN, prices would be driven up, making the network even less attractive to city customers. It’s textbook <a href="https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/glossary/adverse-selection/">adverse selection</a>, just like in health-insurance markets.</p>
<p>The government tried to get around this by banning competition. But that’s never really possible, especially from technologies not yet invented. Like 5G. The 2010 business case assumed no more than 16% of households would go wireless. Oops. </p>
<p>As economic journalist <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/nbns-assumptions-just-dont-stack-up-20110628-1gp48.html">Peter Martin wrote</a> in 2011:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>NBN will never make a return on the cost of its capital or meet its customer targets if it faces competition. Its corporate plan says so, at point 1: “The plan assumes effective regulatory protection to prevent opportunistic cherry picking […] the viability of the project is dependent upon this protection.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>What to do from here</h2>
<p>Multiple governments have bungled the NBN. But there is a way to salvage things – a bit.</p>
<p>Holding constant the technology (fibre-to-the-node), the best thing the government could do is write down its investment massively – ideally so low that it can flog NBN Co off to someone who can be subject to access regulation – ensuring, like other utilities, ownership of infrastructure doesn’t stymie competition – and make a modest rate of return.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-should-be-done-with-the-nbn-in-the-long-run-99294">What should be done with the NBN in the long run?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Our super funds are always sticking up their hands for infrastructure investment. This would be a good one.</p>
<p>Ideally, though, the technology should be fixed. Fibre-to-the-premises was always going to be expensive, but it was also going to be fast, and as future-proof as we could get.</p>
<p>Lack of imagination and inability to think past 12 Mbps less than ten years ago should not hold the nation back now.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123750/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Holden does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The mess made of National Broadband Network was entirely predictable. Politicians forgot three basic lessons from economics.Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1151312019-05-07T02:43:04Z2019-05-07T02:43:04ZAround 50% of homes in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane have the oldest NBN technology<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272734/original/file-20190506-103053-giewhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Living in an urban centre is no guarantee for new NBN technology. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hobart-australia-2015-april-11-installation-269134058">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The NBN was touted as <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-nbn-how-a-national-infrastructure-dream-fell-short-77780">dream infrastructure</a>, and the Coalition says it is close to completing the <a href="https://www.mitchfifield.com/2019/04/nbn-marks-10-years-on-track-for-2020-completion/">A$50 billion national broadband network</a>. </p>
<p>But Australia recently slipped three spots to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/federal-election-2019/australia-drops-to-62nd-in-global-broadband-speed-rankings-20190428-p51hz2.html">place 62nd in global broadband rankings</a>, with our average download speed of 35.11 Mbps far below the global average of 57.91 Mbps.</p>
<p>Labor has ruled-out a large scale upgrade of the NBN if it wins the 2019 federal election, saying flaws in the NBN are due to “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-23/what-happened-to-superfast-nbn/11037620?pfmredir=sm">six years of vandalism</a>” by the Coalition government. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/labor-will-prioritise-an-nbn-digital-inclusion-drive-heres-what-it-should-focus-on-115135">Labor will prioritise an NBN 'digital inclusion drive' – here's what it should focus on</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In reality it’s hard to get an accurate picture on the balance of NBN technologies that are already in place in Australia. To get around this opacity, we used the “<a href="https://www.nbnco.com.au/connect-home-or-business/check-your-address">check your address</a>” tool on the NBN website as a way to collect data on the footprints of technologies currently or about to be in place in three Australian metropolitan cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. </p>
<p>The data suggests around half (40-60%) of homes in the three cities only have access to very old technology: hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC). For people in these residences, access to the so-called “fibre network” remains only a fairy tale.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272670/original/file-20190506-103078-1ki8l6a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272670/original/file-20190506-103078-1ki8l6a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272670/original/file-20190506-103078-1ki8l6a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272670/original/file-20190506-103078-1ki8l6a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272670/original/file-20190506-103078-1ki8l6a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272670/original/file-20190506-103078-1ki8l6a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272670/original/file-20190506-103078-1ki8l6a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272670/original/file-20190506-103078-1ki8l6a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Around 55% of homes have old NBN technology in Sydney. Green areas represents addresses with fibre technology (FTTX) and red areas represent addresses with older hybrid fibre-coaxial/satellite NBN (HFC/Sat).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nbnco.com.au/connect-home-or-business/check-your-address">Tooran Alizadeh</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Real data on the NBN</h2>
<p>Lack of data transparency is a vexing aspect of the NBN. In our experience, <a href="https://www.nbnco.com.au/">NBN Co</a> does not disclose meaningful information on service footprints in a single, usable dataset. This makes it difficult to evaluate outcomes and perform policy analysis associated with the service. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, our latest research has collected some data we believe was undisclosed previously. </p>
<p>Over December 2018 to February 2019, we used the “<a href="https://www.nbnco.com.au/connect-home-or-business/check-your-address">check your address</a>” search function on the NBN Co website along with <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308596118300363">basic data mining techniques</a> to extract data from a representative sample of all addresses across the three metropolitan regions of Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. </p>
<p>We uncovered footprints of mixed-technology NBN, including current or planned fibre to the premises (FTTP), fibre to the node (FTTN), fibre to the building (FTTB), fibre to the curb (FTTC), hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC), fixed wireless and satellite (Sky Muster). </p>
<p>Here we mainly focus on hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC), which is the oldest technology component of the NBN. HFC is the cable network you might have connected to in the past to get Foxtel subscription TV. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272691/original/file-20190506-103053-1a3f2e9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272691/original/file-20190506-103053-1a3f2e9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272691/original/file-20190506-103053-1a3f2e9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272691/original/file-20190506-103053-1a3f2e9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272691/original/file-20190506-103053-1a3f2e9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272691/original/file-20190506-103053-1a3f2e9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272691/original/file-20190506-103053-1a3f2e9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272691/original/file-20190506-103053-1a3f2e9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Around 42% of homes have old NBN technology in Melbourne. Green areas represents addresses with fibre technology (FTTX) and red areas represent addresses with older hybrid fibre-coaxial/satellite NBN (HFC/Sat).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nbnco.com.au/connect-home-or-business/check-your-address">Tooran Alizadeh</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Major cities rely on HFC</h2>
<p>The three maps shown here represent the spatial presence of fibre infrastructure versus more inferior HFC/satellite NBN in three metropolitan regions of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane (In reality very few urban homes use satellite, as shown in bar graphs below). </p>
<p>The three maps suggest inferior NBN technology is in abundant use across all three metropolitan cities. 62% of all addresses in the greater Brisbane region, 42% of all addresses in Melbourne, and 55% of all addresses in Sydney are (or will soon be) connected to the NBN via HFC. </p>
<p>These figures are at odds with a recent claim by Minister for Communications Mitch Fifield that his government is rolling out “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/abcqanda/videos/418015455660247/?comment_id=10155958137691831&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D">a new network</a>” to the whole nation. For about half of the addresses in three major Australian metropolitan regions, the NBN “rollout” looks like a re-branding exercise using an old cable network. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272692/original/file-20190506-103057-1k0iwn2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272692/original/file-20190506-103057-1k0iwn2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272692/original/file-20190506-103057-1k0iwn2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272692/original/file-20190506-103057-1k0iwn2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272692/original/file-20190506-103057-1k0iwn2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272692/original/file-20190506-103057-1k0iwn2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272692/original/file-20190506-103057-1k0iwn2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272692/original/file-20190506-103057-1k0iwn2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Around 62% of homes have old NBN technology in Brisbane. Green areas represents addresses with fibre technology (FTTX) and red areas represent addresses with older hybrid fibre-coaxial/satellite NBN (HFC/Sat).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nbnco.com.au/connect-home-or-business/check-your-address">Tooran Alizadeh</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Socioeconomic patterns of the NBN</h2>
<p>To look at socioeconomic patterns of the NBN rollout, we used the <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/2033.0.55.001">Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) socio-economic indexes for area (SEIFA)</a> and its index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage (IRSAD) from 2016. We then cross examined the SEIFA data (divided into ten ranked groups known as “deciles”) with the NBN data extracted via the data mining exercise (described above).</p>
<p>It’s clear in the graphs below that a mix of both old and new technologies are in play across the three metropolitan regions of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. </p>
<p>The analysis did not find any clear socioeconomic patterns comparing better-off SEIFA deciles of 8-10 versus worse-off deciles of 1-3. Nevertheless, the size of HFC adoption across the socioeconomic spectrum in all three major cities is quite concerning.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272949/original/file-20190507-103057-jeqzts.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272949/original/file-20190507-103057-jeqzts.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272949/original/file-20190507-103057-jeqzts.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272949/original/file-20190507-103057-jeqzts.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272949/original/file-20190507-103057-jeqzts.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272949/original/file-20190507-103057-jeqzts.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272949/original/file-20190507-103057-jeqzts.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272947/original/file-20190507-103078-rngyi4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272947/original/file-20190507-103078-rngyi4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272947/original/file-20190507-103078-rngyi4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272947/original/file-20190507-103078-rngyi4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272947/original/file-20190507-103078-rngyi4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272947/original/file-20190507-103078-rngyi4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272947/original/file-20190507-103078-rngyi4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272950/original/file-20190507-103063-3hwc3g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272950/original/file-20190507-103063-3hwc3g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272950/original/file-20190507-103063-3hwc3g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272950/original/file-20190507-103063-3hwc3g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272950/original/file-20190507-103063-3hwc3g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272950/original/file-20190507-103063-3hwc3g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272950/original/file-20190507-103063-3hwc3g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Availabilities of different technologies across different socioeconomic deciles (1 = lowest socioeconomic status, 10 = highest) in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. NBN technologies are FTTP (fibre to the premises), FTTN (fibre to the node), FTTB (fibre to the building), FTTC (fibre to the curb) and the older HFC (hybrid fibre-coaxial) and Sat (satellite).</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>The second most dominant technology in the three major cities is fibre to the curb (FTTC). This is a technology that <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-08/nbn-launches-fibre-to-the-curb-technology/9631262">was only added to the mix 12 months ago</a>, as a partial solution <a href="https://www.afr.com/technology/web/nbn/nbn-halts-hfc-rollout-effective-immediately-as-issues-mount-20171127-gztg2i">in response to the mounting issues related to the HFC network</a>. </p>
<p>If it was not for this late addition to the network, the NBN footprint may have had an even higher dominance of old HFC technology than currently. It’s also clear that the rate of FTTC adoption in greater Brisbane is well below that in Melbourne and Sydney. </p>
<h2>An NBN upgrade is inevitable</h2>
<p>Since the announcement of mixed-technology NBN, experts have <a href="https://delimiter.com.au/2015/11/30/budde-says-he-warned-turnbull-about-optus-hfc-cable-issue/">warned against</a> the serious shortcomings of the old HFC technology. </p>
<p>While these were mostly ignored initially, Bill Morrow (then CEO at NBN) later admitted that NBN speed was slowed by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/27/nbns-speed-slowed-by-reliance-on-copper-network-its-ceo-admits?CMP=share_btn_tw">reliance on copper network</a>. Supporting this, an analysis by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (<a href="https://www.acma.gov.au/">ACMA</a>) revealed that the average household on the HFC network was reporting between <a href="https://www.acma.gov.au/-/media/Consumer-Interests/Report/PDF/Migrating-to-the-NBN--The-consumer-experience--Key-findings-from-analy-pdf.pdf">2 to 3.6 times more faults than those on fibre, and making between 3 and 5 times more complaints</a>. </p>
<p>It’s also been reported that about <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/no-bells-or-whistles-labor-keeps-it-simple-with-its-nbn-plan-20190409-p51cce.html">40% of the NBN is fibre to the node (FTTN)</a> which has its own <a href="https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-reveals-fttn-premises-that-never-hit-25mbps-peak-speeds-516849">fair share of issues</a>.</p>
<p>Interestingly, there have already been some partial upgrades within NBN Co’s plans, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/no-bells-or-whistles-labor-keeps-it-simple-with-its-nbn-plan-20190409-p51cce.html">as FTTC reportedly accounts for about 12% of the national network</a>, to serve the areas that were previously assigned to receive HFC. </p>
<p>Having said this, Labor’s latest announcement seems to be focusing on what can be described as “improving consumer experience” <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/no-bells-or-whistles-labor-keeps-it-simple-with-its-nbn-plan-20190409-p51cce.html">without making any commitment for more fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP), or at least more fibre</a>. </p>
<p>We argue that for Australia and Australian major cities to be competitive on the global platform, an NBN update is inevitable.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115131/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tooran Alizadeh receives funding from Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), Department of Industry Innovation and Science/Smart Cities and Suburbs Programme, University of Sydney's Policy Lab, and also Global Engagement Office. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tony receives funding from the National Academies of Science, Department of Defense, National Science Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edward Helderop does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Around half of homes in three major Australian cities only have access to very old technology: hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC). For them, access to the NBN fibre network remains only a fairy tale.Tooran Alizadeh, Senior Lecturer in Urbanism, Sydney Research Accelerator (SOAR) Fellow, University of SydneyEdward Helderop, Postdoctoral researcher, Arizona State UniversityTony Grubesic, Professor, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/992942018-07-22T20:09:59Z2018-07-22T20:09:59ZWhat should be done with the NBN in the long run?<p>The National Broadband Network (NBN) should be built and fully operational by 2022, having cost about A$50 billion. <a href="https://telsoc.org/ajtde/2018-06-v6-n2/a155">The question will then be</a> whether the government should retain the NBN or sell it off. </p>
<p>The current government has <a href="https://www.communications.gov.au/departmental-news/government-responds-vertigan-reviews">laid the groundwork</a> for NBN to be broken up and sold off. But this could end the NBN’s positive disruption of the telecommunications market, which includes lower prices, increased competition, improved access for consumers and more services being offered.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/telstra-may-be-simpler-but-where-will-revenue-come-from-98768">Telstra may be simpler, but where will revenue come from?</a>
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<p>In a <a href="https://telsoc.org/ajtde/2018-06-v6-n2/a155">recent paper</a> I outlined four options for the NBN:</p>
<ul>
<li>government retains the NBN</li>
<li>sell NBN as a single entity</li>
<li>disaggregate NBN technologies and sell them separately</li>
<li>disaggregate NBN technologies, excluding satellite and fixed wireless, and sell off separately.</li>
</ul>
<p>Breaking up the NBN could result in the creation of geographic monopolies, hurting rural and regional consumers especially.</p>
<p>Telstra’s recent decision to hive off its infrastructure into separate companies gives Australia the opportunity to do what <a href="https://www.chorus.co.nz/">New Zealand has done</a>: create a new, publicly listed company that contains the NBN and parts of Telstra’s infrastructure.</p>
<p>But there is a valid argument for the government to retain NBN Co. as a government enterprise beyond the NBN rollout.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-digital-divide-is-not-going-away-91834">Australia's digital divide is not going away</a>
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<p>The NBN has brought about an unprecedented period of positive change in the telecommunications market. But there is more to be done, including a further reduction in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-digital-divide-is-not-going-away-91834">digital divide between urban and regional and remote areas</a>, and upgrading from fibre to the node to fibre to the curb or fibre to the premises.</p>
<p>By retaining ownership of the NBN for the next decade, the government could provide a stable level playing field upon which the telecommunications market can thrive. </p>
<p>For the major carriers, the focus over the next decade will be to build competing 5G networks. The sale of the NBN during this time could return the industry to the chaos that existed before the NBN.</p>
<h2>Who would buy the NBN?</h2>
<p>The first major concern for anyone buying part of the NBN is the A$15 per customer per month <a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo%E2%80%8C/search/summary%E2%80%8C/summary.w3p;%E2%80%8Cadv=yes;orderBy=customrank;page=0;query=nbn%20Date%3A24%2F10%2F2017%20Dataset%3Aestimate;resCount=Default">paid to Telstra</a> for a majority of the fixed connections to the NBN. </p>
<p>This is a payment for the use of Telstra’s existing infrastructure, such as the ducts that run along streets and the telephone exchanges where NBN systems are now located.</p>
<p>This payment is a major impediment to the NBN having a successful business model. There is some doubt whether Optus, Vodafone or TPG would bid for part of the NBN knowing that they would be required to make a monthly payment to Telstra for most of the customers they connect.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nbn-faces-irrelevance-in-cities-as-competitors-build-faster-cheaper-alternatives-92275">NBN faces irrelevance in cities as competitors build faster, cheaper alternatives</a>
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<p>Telecommunications networks are a “<a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/natural_monopoly.asp">natural monopoly</a>”, similar to roads, rail, gas and electricity. This is because of the high startup costs of building the networks, especially for the segments closest to homes and businesses (also known as the last mile).</p>
<p>In high-value urban areas it is possible to build financially viable infrastructure that competes with incumbents. But this does not solve the problem of competition in lower-value outer urban, regional and remote areas.</p>
<p>No solution to this problem has been forthcoming. This is one of the reasons the NBN came into being in the first place.</p>
<h2>How do you break up the NBN?</h2>
<p>Outside of the high-value urban areas there is no guarantee of infrastructure-based competition, so regulation is required to ensure broadband in those areas keeps up with what is offered in the high-value urban areas.</p>
<p>The government <a href="http://johnmenadue.com/mark-gregory-a-new-broadband-levy-in-another-nbn-bungle/">has already</a> introduced a levy to subsidise the cost of providing broadband in regional and remote areas. But more needs to be done to ensure regional and remote telecommunications is improved continuously.</p>
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<p>
<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5g-will-be-a-convenient-but-expensive-alternative-to-the-nbn-86216">5G will be a convenient but expensive alternative to the NBN</a>
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<p>Breaking up the NBN will also likely result in smaller geographic monopolies, with different technologies used in each network – fixed wireless, satellite and transit etc.</p>
<p>So rather than have one infrastructure monopoly (NBN Co.) wholesaling products and services, we could end up with the bigger telcos becoming monopoly providers by purchasing one or more of the technology footprints.</p>
<p>Consumers, especially those in regional and remote areas, will likely be hit with steep price rises with the end of uniform national wholesale pricing.</p>
<h2>The New Zealand option</h2>
<p>Telstra has <a href="https://exchange.telstra.com.au/establishing-standalone-infrastructure-business/">announced</a> that it is creating a standalone company called InfraCo, that will be:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… accountable for our copper and HFC networks; all our fibre network that is not dedicated to supporting mobiles; all ducts, pits and pipes; property including exchange buildings and data centres; and international and domestic subsea cables. These assets will be combined with Telstra Wholesale and the teams in Telstra Operations that provide services to NBN Co.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This provides Telstra with the opportunity to participate in the future sale of the NBN. Telstra could spin off InfraCo as a separate ASX-listed company, take on infrastructure investors for a future purchase of the NBN, or part of the NBN, and effectively follow what happened in New Zealand with Telecom New Zealand becoming Spark (retail/mobile) and Chorus (wholesale).</p>
<p>If Telstra splits into two ASX-listed companies so that InfraCo can purchase the NBN, the result would be a company with about A$10 billion in revenue and A$30 billion in infrastructure assets. This would be a viable company that is able to service the government debt repayments while making a reasonable return to shareholders.</p>
<p>It is likely this outcome would be more palatable to the rest of the telecommunications industry because the positive disruption to the market caused by the NBN would continue.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-nbn-needs-subsidies-if-we-all-want-to-benefit-from-it-81562">The NBN needs subsidies if we all want to benefit from it</a>
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<p>If the NBN is sold off, the focus must shift to the telecommunications legislation and regulations, setting a minimum broadband connection speed and capacity that infrastructure wholesalers are to provide without penalty, and focusing on how to further reduce the digital divide between urban and regional and remote areas.</p>
<p>The key for a future government decision on what to do with the NBN is that it should not be considered in isolation. There are a number of linked issues, including the <a href="https://www.communications.gov.au/what-we-do/phone/phone-services/universal-service-obligation">universal service obligation</a>, <a href="https://telsoc.org/ajtde/2015-12-v3-n4/a45">universal access</a>, <a href="https://www.telstra.com.au/aboutus/investors/frequently-asked-questions/foreign-shareholding">foreign ownership restrictions</a> and wholesale competition.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99294/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark A Gregory does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The NBN is on track to be privatised after the infrastructure is completed, but there are a number of other options that would retain the benefits of its disruption of the telecommunications market.Mark A Gregory, Associate professor, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/922752018-02-27T19:12:16Z2018-02-27T19:12:16ZNBN faces irrelevance in cities as competitors build faster, cheaper alternatives<p>Malcolm Turnbull is now connected to the National Broadband Network (NBN) at his Point Piper home on a 100 megabits per second (Mbps) plan, <a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id:%22committees/estimate/cf6fe7dd-0d6d-4199-a484-e3d47d602350/0000%22">it was revealed</a> in Senate Estimates yesterday. But only because his department intervened to avoid <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/how-malcolm-turnbull-connected-to-superfast-nbn/news-story/4b605dd42638aee7de862bcc816e42ff">delays affecting other customers</a>. </p>
<p>And while the Prime Minister might be happy with his NBN connection, that’s not the case for the 2.5 million customers waiting on a connection through their pay TV or cable service who have been <a href="http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/nbn/nbn-co-leaves-millions-of-australian-internet-users-in-limbo-with-no-updates-to-hfc-delays/news-story/ab2d88247c3e1dfe4be186334f70779f">left in limbo</a>.</p>
<p>Lauded in the 2009 Commonwealth Budget as the <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/in-depth/pms-speech-on-the-broadband-network/news-story/1f81ebcb27c83feba132199b6b345bd0?sv=d2847aff878e094d9aac2853a8d94104">single largest nation building infrastructure project in Australian history</a>, the NBN is at risk of becoming an expensive white elephant in our cities. Years of political interference, poor technology decisions and a monopoly business attitude have damaged the brand. </p>
<p>Rather than meeting its <a href="http://www.budget.gov.au/2009-10/">objective</a> of connecting 90% of homes and workplaces with broadband speeds of up to 100 Mbps, the NBN is looking more like a giant sponge. It soaks up public infrastructure dollars and returns high prices, long delays, unacceptably slow data speeds and service standards that are now the subject of an <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/accc-inquiry-into-nbn-wholesale-service-standards">ACCC investigation</a>.</p>
<p>As a result, a growing number of competitors are bypassing the NBN by undercutting prices and beating performance standards. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-accc-investigation-into-the-nbn-will-be-useful-but-its-too-little-too-late-87095">The ACCC investigation into the NBN will be useful. But it's too little, too late</a>
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<h2>Adelaide bypasses the NBN</h2>
<p>The latest challenge to the NBN came after South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill denounced the “<a href="http://www.afr.com/business/telecommunications/jay-weatherill-to-spend-millions-on-faster-nbn-for-schools-20180127-h0pcsj">very poor NBN outcome</a>” and last week announced <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-20/sa-election-labor-promises-faster-than-nbn-internet/9464482">A$35 million in funding</a> for an Adelaide fibre network alternative if he is reelected in March 2018. </p>
<p>The plan was warmly welcomed by Mighty Kingdom, an app and games developer who told the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-20/sa-election-labor-promises-faster-than-nbn-internet/9464482">ABC</a>, “I don’t have what I need to get me to the rest of the world.”</p>
<p>This follows news <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-06/ten-gigabit-adelaide-network-promises-100-times-nbn-speed/9230970">announced last year</a> that Adelaide City Council is working with TPG to deliver an NBN-alternative broadband service to local businesses. The service promises fibre internet up to 100 times faster than the NBN, at lower prices, and with no installation costs for city businesses or organisations.</p>
<p>Lord Mayor Martin Haese <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-06/ten-gigabit-adelaide-network-promises-100-times-nbn-speed/9230970">said</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>This technology will be a game changer for the city of Adelaide. It will be a boom for local businesses and other organisations, but will also attract business from interstate and across the globe.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-nbn-how-a-national-infrastructure-dream-fell-short-77780">The NBN: how a national infrastructure dream fell short</a>
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</p>
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<h2>NBN alternatives for Melbourne homes and businesses</h2>
<p>Meanwhile two aggressive startups in the Melbourne market are hoping to take a serious bite from NBN’s lunch.</p>
<p>Lightening Broadband is connecting homes and businesses using microwave links capable of <a href="https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2016/07/is-lightning-broadbands-100-mbps-non-nbn-internet-too-good-to-be-true/">delivering both 100 Mbps download and upload speeds</a>. That’s better than the comparable NBN Tier 100, which offers <a href="https://www.telstra.com.au/broadband/nbn/nbn-speeds-explained#fixed">90 Mbps download and 30 Mbps upload speeds</a>.</p>
<p>The company is <a href="http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/nbn/the-little-aussie-startups-taking-on-the-nbn/news-story/1dfbf198eb611584c43accdb48d16711">constructing microwave transmitters on tall buildings</a>, connected to the telco’s core network using microwave links. Customers within a two-kilometre radius share a microwave transmitter, requiring a dish on their roof. </p>
<p>Another telco start-up, DGtek is offering its customers a full fibre alternative service.</p>
<p>Upon its launch in 2016, DGtek’s founder David Klizhov <a href="http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/nbn/the-little-aussie-startups-taking-on-the-nbn/news-story/1dfbf198eb611584c43accdb48d16711">said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Ideally the NBN would have worked if it was fibre to the home, but it’s taken quite a lot of time and we thought that we could have a go at the Australian market using technology that’s been implemented already overseas.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>DGtek uses Gigabit Passive Optical Networks (GPON) and runs it directly into tightly packed homes with the dense population of inner Melbourne. As a sweetener, DGtek offers <a href="http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/nbn/the-little-aussie-startups-taking-on-the-nbn/news-story/1dfbf198eb611584c43accdb48d16711">free internet service to government organisations</a> – such as schools and hospitals – in areas they service.</p>
<h2>The threat from 5G and other new technologies</h2>
<p>New entrant competition is not the only threat to NBN Co. Optus and Telstra are both launching 5G services in 2019. This represents a quantum leap in wireless technology that could win away millions of current and potential NBN customers. </p>
<p>While Vodafone CEO Inaki Berroeta <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/vodafone-chief-talks-down-5g-threat-to-nbn/news-story/fe03f2b092f9d6435d18030fe03019b7">has said</a> that 5G is unlikely to replace the NBN in Australian homes, Optus Managing Director of Networks Dennis Wong recently <a href="https://www.bit.com.au/news/5g-coming-in-2019-say-optus-and-telstra-484323">told</a> BIT Magazine: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Everyone has heard of concepts like self-driving cars, smart homes, AI and virtual reality, however their full potential will require a fast and reliable network to deliver. Seeing 5G data speeds through our trial that are up to 15 times faster than current technologies allows us to show the potential of this transformative technology to support a new eco-system of connected devices in the home, the office, the paddock and in the wider community.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5g-will-be-a-convenient-but-expensive-alternative-to-the-nbn-86216">5G will be a convenient but expensive alternative to the NBN</a>
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<p>5G is not the only technological game changer facing the NBN. iiNet in Canberra has launched its <a href="http://blog.iinet.net.au/act-vdsl2/">Very-high-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL2)</a> as its own superfast network. </p>
<p>According to iiNet, it is made up of fibre and copper and provides a faster connection than ADSL and most NBN plans. The network is independent from Telstra and differs to NBN in that iiNet’s VDSL2 network uses its own copper lines.</p>
<h2>Levelling the field for smaller players</h2>
<p>The huge capital requirements of rolling out telecoms infrastructure has always acted to deter more competition in the Australian market. But following a <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/accc-finalises-regulation-of-non-nbn-high-speed-internet-services">regulatory decision of the ACCC</a> in 2017, smaller entrants can now enjoy cost-based access to some of the largest networks – including Telstra, TPG and Opticom – allowing them to better compete both with the big telcos, and with the NBN. </p>
<p>By providing access to superfast broadband access service (SBAS) and the local bitstream access service (LBAS), new entrants will be able to sell NBN-like fixed line superfast broadband wholesale.</p>
<p>So where to for the NBN?</p>
<p>Yesterday the government released a <a href="https://www.communications.gov.au/departmental-news/future-trends-bandwidth-demand">working paper</a> forecasting that demand for bandwidth will double for households with high internet usage over the next decade. The report also suggests that the NBN is equipped to meet those needs.</p>
<p>However, cost, technology and customer service problems continue to threaten the commercial success of the NBN. Without a radical rethink, it is doomed to fail its initial mission.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92275/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Allan Asher is affiliated with ACCESS2 Effective Markets and Governance and REGNET </span></em></p>Malcolm Turnbull may be happy with his NBN connection, but many Australians aren’t. And with an increasing number of alternatives on offer, the NBN could become a white elephant in Australian cities.Allan Asher, Visitor, Regulatory Institutions Network (RegNet) & Chair of Foundation for Effective Markets and Governance, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/870952017-11-09T05:01:23Z2017-11-09T05:01:23ZThe ACCC investigation into the NBN will be useful. But it’s too little, too late<p>The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/regulated-infrastructure/communications/national-broadband-network-nbn/nbn-wholesale-service-standards-inquiry">launched</a> a public inquiry into the National Broadband Network (NBN). Already, <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/telstra-offers-to-compensate-42000-customers-for-slow-nbn-speeds">Telstra</a> and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-09/optus-latest-telco-to-compensate-customers-for-slow-nbn/9132778">Optus</a> have come forward, offering to compensate customers whose expectations of internet speed delivery were not met. </p>
<p>But it’s four years too late. The ACCC dropped the ball when it allowed Telstra, Optus and its competitors to launch their NBN services without specific rules concerning <a href="https://adstandards.com.au/products-issues/misleading-and-deceptive-advertising">misleading and deceptive advertising</a>, or an enforcement mechanism to hold the NBN company to account for connection delays, missing appointments and fault rectification. </p>
<p>Now we’re in a position where the problems with the NBN run deeper than what can be solved through an investigation or more monitoring. Bad decisions about the technology, lack of hard data on performance and a war of words by competing providers makes it hard to untie responsibility for the mess.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/like-it-or-not-youre-getting-the-nbn-so-what-are-your-rights-when-buying-internet-services-85904">Like it or not, you're getting the NBN, so what are your rights when buying internet services?</a>
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<p>The <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/regulated-infrastructure/communications/national-broadband-network-nbn/nbn-wholesale-service-standards-inquiry">stated aims</a> of the ACCC public inquiry are to determine whether NBN wholesale service standard levels are appropriate, and consider whether regulation is necessary to improve consumer experiences. </p>
<p>The data released this week by the ACCC <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/accc-releases-quarterly-report-on-the-nbn-wholesale-market-4">Wholesale Market Indicators Report</a> shows that:</p>
<ul>
<li>NBN Co is supplying more than three million wholesale broadband access services</li>
<li>there are 26 NBN Co retail and wholesale internet service providers (ISPs - also known as “access seeker groups”) directly connected to NBN Co’s network</li>
<li>the top four ISPs are Telstra, Optus, TPG Group and Vocus. </li>
</ul>
<h2>Optimism bias, and how we got here</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/behavioural_economics">behavioural economics</a>, optimism bias refers to the phenomenon that we think markets are going to work out well even when there is no rational basis for supposing so. A similar optimism bias is often seen in infrastructure projects. </p>
<p>In the case of the NBN there were a few strategic opportunities to reduce the chances of market failure, but optimism bias by policymakers let the opportunities slip by.</p>
<p>And now we’re in the position where – in common with <a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/cheat-sheet-how-your-energy-provider-measures-up/news-story/a84a6c7860fb09779869360e2d6a2b34">energy retailers</a>, deregulated providers of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/oct/14/crackdown-alleged-unscrupulous-vocational-education-providers">vocational education</a> and <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/the-venture/epic-fail-australias-worst-customer-service-20101212-18ue0.html">financial services firms</a> – ISPs have taken internet consumers and their regulators for a ride. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5g-will-be-a-convenient-but-expensive-alternative-to-the-nbn-86216">5G will be a convenient but expensive alternative to the NBN</a>
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<p>In 2013, when the NBN provided a <a href="https://www.nbnco.com.au/sell-nbn-services/special-access-undertaking-sau.html">Special Access Undertaking</a> (setting out prices and terms of access to ISPs) to the ACCC, there was a great opportunity to require objectively verifiable disclosure of wholesale operating speeds. However, the government allowed NBN Co to negotiate the service level agreement <a href="http://www.afr.com/business/telecommunications/accc-mulls-more-nbn-regulation-20171102-gzdbf3">with ISPs directly</a>, and left the ACCC to watch from the sidelines. </p>
<p>Similarly, there should have been truth in advertising rules imposed on Telstra, Optus and their competitors to prevent false service speed claims.</p>
<p>The absence of enforceable regulation was taken as a green light for ISPs to continue to promise unrealistic and unattainable internet speeds, as they had done for years before in relation to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-20/tpg-fined-242m-over-misleading-ads/4082454">price and package data allowances</a>. Connection speeds have become the new wild west in communications.</p>
<p>In the case of the NBN, the failure by the government and the regulator to require an adequate transparency measure, or even to monitor wholesale services standards has allowed the deterioration to the current state of affairs.</p>
<h2>Not all is lost</h2>
<p>In relation to false and misleading claims about internet service speeds, the ACCC has established a <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/internet-phone/monitoring-broadband-performance">broadband monitoring program</a> to generate data about broadband speeds and performance.</p>
<p>Under the scheme (which is based on similar ones operating elsewhere), the ACCC will install monitoring equipment in 4,000 homes across Australia that are connected to fixed-line NBN services – including fibre to the node, fibre to the basement, fibre to the premises, and hybrid fibre-coaxial. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175122/original/file-20170622-3031-jt1gt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175122/original/file-20170622-3031-jt1gt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175122/original/file-20170622-3031-jt1gt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175122/original/file-20170622-3031-jt1gt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175122/original/file-20170622-3031-jt1gt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1013&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175122/original/file-20170622-3031-jt1gt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1013&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175122/original/file-20170622-3031-jt1gt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1013&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Various/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p><em>FTTP = fibre to the premises; FTTN/FFTB = fibre to the node/basement;
HFC = Hybrid Fibre-Coaxial</em></p>
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<p>Real-time data will determine average fixed-line NBN speeds at various times, and is expected to be published at least in part by the end of 2017.</p>
<p>A trickier task will be to sort out the real culprit in cases of service failure or performance shortfall. At present we see a culture of <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/nbn-let-the-blame-game-begin-20171023-gz6ux6.html">passing the buck</a>, where complainants to ISPs are shunted off to the NBN, while the NBN just as vigorously points the finger at ISPs. </p>
<p>NBN argues (with some justification) that the ISPs are scrimping on the amount of capacity or bandwidth they are buying to on-sell to consumers. <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/blog/the-nbn-project/nbn-ceo">According to NBN Co</a>, they are being criticised for something that’s just not their fault. Sorting of this provisioning stoush will not be easy even with the panel data.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-nbn-how-a-national-infrastructure-dream-fell-short-77780">The NBN: how a national infrastructure dream fell short</a>
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<p>Following the ACCC inquiry into the NBN’s wholesale service standards, possible regulatory changes would include imposition of fines, and establishing a process through which consumers could seek compensation at a retail level when minimum whole service standards are not met.</p>
<p>Finally, in an attempt to control deceptive claims about the speed of networks, the ACCC has issued <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/publications/broadband-speed-claims-industry-guidance">Broadband Speed Claims – Industry Guidance</a>. This advises retailers how to advertise speeds for NBN broadband services, including clearly identifying typical minimum speeds during peak periods.</p>
<p>It is unclear whether the proposed measures are intended to solve the problems or just to be seen to be doing something and so reduce the clamour. </p>
<p>Sadly, it’s something we could have avoided if policymakers and regulators were just a little less optimistic.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87095/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Allan Asher has previously worked with the ACCC and the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network </span></em></p>Australia’s problems with the national broadband network run deeper than what can be solved through an investigation or more monitoring. Maybe we were just too optimistic.Allan Asher, Visitor, Regulatory Institutions Network (RegNet) & Chair of Foundation for Effective Markets and Governance, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/862162017-10-24T23:14:46Z2017-10-24T23:14:46Z5G will be a convenient but expensive alternative to the NBN<p>Will Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN) face damaging competition from the upcoming 5G network? NBN Co CEO Bill Morrow <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/slug-mobile-internet-connections-or-pay-us-more-nbn-chief-bill-morrow-warns-20171022-gz5p87.html">thinks so</a>. </p>
<p>This week, he even floated the idea of a levy on mobile broadband services, although Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/malcolm-turnbull-says-the-nbn-was-a-mistake-and-may-never-make-money-20171022-gz63yo.html">quickly rejected</a> the idea.</p>
<p>NBN Co is clearly going to have to compete with mobile broadband on an equal footing.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/like-it-or-not-youre-getting-the-nbn-so-what-are-your-rights-when-buying-internet-services-85904">Like it or not, you're getting the NBN, so what are your rights when buying internet services?</a>
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<p>This latest episode in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/nbn-127">NBN saga</a> raises the question of exactly what 5G will offer broadband customers, and how it will sit alongside the fixed NBN network.</p>
<p>To understand how 5G could compare with the NBN, let’s examine the key differences and similarities between mobile networks and fixed-line broadband.</p>
<h2>What is 5G?</h2>
<p>5G stands for “<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-5g-38489">5th generation mobile</a>”. It builds upon today’s 4G mobile network technology, but promises to offer higher peak connection speeds and lower latency, or time delays.</p>
<p>5G’s higher connection speeds will be possible thanks to improved radio technologies, increased allocations of radio spectrum, and by using many more antenna sites or base stations than today’s networks. Each antenna will serve a smaller area, or cell.</p>
<p>The technical details of 5G are currently under negotiation in international standards bodies. 5G networks should be available in Australia by 2020, although regulatory changes <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/article/australia-facing-urgency-on-5g-spectrum-bands-amta/">are still needed</a>.</p>
<h2>Connections on 5G</h2>
<p>In a mobile network, the user’s device (typically a smart phone) communicates with a nearby wireless base station via a radio link. All users connected to that base station share its available data capacity.</p>
<p>Australia’s mobile network typically provides <a href="https://opensignal.com/reports/2017/02/global-state-of-the-mobile-network">download speeds</a> of around 20 Mb/s. But the actual speed of connection for an individual decreases as the number of users increases. This effect is known as contention. </p>
<p>Anyone who has tried to upload a photo to Facebook from the Melbourne Cricket Ground will have experienced this. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191577/original/file-20171024-30587-1qtcm3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191577/original/file-20171024-30587-1qtcm3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191577/original/file-20171024-30587-1qtcm3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191577/original/file-20171024-30587-1qtcm3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191577/original/file-20171024-30587-1qtcm3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191577/original/file-20171024-30587-1qtcm3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191577/original/file-20171024-30587-1qtcm3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Mobile base stations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/telecommunication-tower-sunset-172347743?src=E8U0eh3f7OG4MNfTobQN1g-1-15">kongsky/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>The maximum download speed of 5G networks could be more than 1 Gb/s. But in practice, it will <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-5g-38489">likely provide</a> download speeds around 100 Mb/s or higher.</p>
<p>Because of contention and the high cost of the infrastructure, mobile network operators also impose significant data download limits for 4G. It is not yet clear what level of data caps will apply in 5G networks.</p>
<h2>Connections on the NBN</h2>
<p>In a fixed-line network like the NBN, the user typically connects to the local telephone exchange via optical fibre. Directly, in the case of fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP), or by copper wiring and then fibre, in fibre-to-the-node (FTTN). </p>
<p>An important difference between the NBN and a mobile network is that on the NBN, there is virtually no contention on the data path between the user and the telephone exchange. In other words, the user’s experience is almost independent of how many other users are online.</p>
<p>But, as highlighted in the recent public debate around the NBN, some users <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-it-comes-to-the-nbn-we-keep-having-the-same-conversations-over-and-over-85078">have complained</a> that NBN speeds decrease at peak usage times. </p>
<p>Importantly, this is not a fundamental issue of the NBN technology. Rather, it is caused by artificial throttling thanks to the NBN Co’s Connectivity Virtual Circuit (CVC) charges, and/or by contention in the retail service provider’s network.</p>
<p>Retail service providers like TPG pay CVC charges to NBN Co to gain bandwidth into the NBN. These charges are <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-01/telcos-cry-foul-over-controversial-nbn-charge-for-bandwidth/8762404">currently quite high</a>, and this has allegedly encouraged some service providers to skimp on bandwidth, leading to contention.</p>
<p>A restructuring of the wholesale model as well as providing adequate bandwidth in NBN Co’s transit network <a href="https://www.telecomtimes.com.au/single-post/2017/09/06/How-to-fix-the-NBN-pricing-model-Rod-Tucker-John-de-Ridder">could easily eliminate</a> artificial throttling. </p>
<p>The amount of data allowed by retailers per month is also generally much higher on the NBN than in mobile networks. It is often unlimited. </p>
<p>This will always be a key difference between the NBN and 5G.</p>
<h2>Don’t forget, 5G needs backhaul</h2>
<p>In wireless networks, the connection between the base stations and internet is known as backhaul.</p>
<p>Today’s 4G networks often use microwave links for backhaul, but in 5G networks where the quantity of data to be transferred will be higher, the backhaul will necessarily be optical fibre. </p>
<p>In the US and elsewhere, a number of broadband service providers <a href="http://www.fiercetelecom.com/telecom/report-2b-to-be-spent-5g-backhaul-by-2022-ng-pon2-to-dominate">are planning</a> to build 5G backhaul networks using passive optical network (PON) technology. This is the type used in the NBN’s FTTP sections.</p>
<p>In fact, this could be a new revenue opportunity for NBN Co. It could encourage the company to move back to FTTP in certain high-population density areas where large numbers of small-cell 5G base stations are required.</p>
<h2>So, will 5G Compete with the NBN?</h2>
<p>There is a great deal of excitement about the opportunities 5G will provide. But its full capacity will only be achieved through very large investments in infrastructure. </p>
<p>Like today’s 4G network, large data downloads for video streaming and other bandwidth-hungry applications will likely be more expensive using 5G than using the NBN. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-nbn-needs-subsidies-if-we-all-want-to-benefit-from-it-81562">The NBN needs subsidies if we all want to benefit from it</a>
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<p>In addition, future upgrades to the FTTP sections of the NBN <a href="https://www.nbnco.com.au/blog/industry/gpon-vs-ng-pon2.html">will accommodate</a> download speeds as high as 10 Gb/s, which will not be achievable with 5G. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, those customers served by FTTN will not enjoy these higher speeds because of the limitations of the copper connections between the node and the premises.</p>
<p>5G will provide convenient broadband access for some internet users. But as the demand for ultra-high-definition video streaming and new applications such as virtual reality grow, the NBN will remain the network of choice for most customers, especially those with FTTP services.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86216/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rod Tucker's research has been financially supported by the Australian Research Council, Alcatel-Lucent, and the Victorian Government. He was a member of a Panel of Experts that provided advice to the Rudd Government on the National Broadband Network. The Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society received cash and in kind support from a range of companies including Optus, NBNCo, Ericsson, Microsoft, Cisco and Google, through its industry partner program and research collaborations.</span></em></p>5G will provide convenient broadband access for some internet users. But as demand grows for ultra-high-definition video streaming, the NBN will remain the network of choice for most customersRod Tucker, Laureate Emeritus Professor, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/862502017-10-24T11:37:36Z2017-10-24T11:37:36ZMorrison finds his productivity report is useful for Labor too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191618/original/file-20171024-30605-xcc2x1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Scott Morrison on Tuesday said reform was harder now than in the 1990s.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Just as the government hopes it is making progress on the energy conundrum, it finds itself struggling on another front of deep public disgruntlement – the NBN.</p>
<p>The rollout of what’s generally considered a second-rate model is producing a high level of complaints. Monday’s <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/whats-wrong-with-the-nbn/9077900">ABC Four Corners</a> program showed how customers in Australia are getting an inferior service compared with New Zealanders.</p>
<p>The government predictably is blaming Labor, though much of the trouble stems from scaling back to a cheaper version than the one it inherited. Malcolm Turnbull, who oversaw the NBN as communications minister, argues it’s obvious that as more houses are connected, the number of complaints rises. That logic only goes so far.</p>
<p>Faults with household and business internet services are sensitive consumer issues. The blame game only increases people’s irritation. It’s been the same for months with electricity, as the government lambasted Labor while trying to get together its own <a href="https://theconversation.com/household-savings-figures-in-turnbulls-energy-policy-look-rubbery-85844">energy policy</a>, which it released last week.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.essentialvision.com.au/category/essentialreport">Essential polling</a> released on Tuesday indicates that at this early stage people are not hostile to that policy, but many are confused.</p>
<p>More than one-third (35%) approved the proposed National Energy Guarantee, with only 18% opposed. But the “don’t know” category is 47%.</p>
<p>People divided fairly evenly when asked whether they approve the government’s decision not to include a clean energy target in the new plan – 35% approved, 32% disapproved, and 33% were “don’t knows”.</p>
<p>But many people retain their strong attachment to renewables. Asked whether they approved the government decision to phase out subsidies for these, 41% disapproved, 32% approved.</p>
<p>This result shows that in political terms, it could be sensible for Labor to accept the basic structure of the government’s scheme – and promise to improve on it. At Tuesday’s Coalition partyroom meeting, Turnbull predicted Labor would propose a higher level of renewables within the Coalition’s policy framework.</p>
<p>If so, that would provide a measure of bipartisanship, which would at least encourage investment.</p>
<p>As the government and opposition argue over the claim the new policy could bring down prices by a small amount – a proposition to be tested by the modelling the government commissioned last week – the Essential polling showed the public are healthily sceptical. Only 16% think it will; 31% believe it will increase prices.</p>
<p>The grim reality faced by the government is that it is hard to get any messages through the high level of public distrust, and this is exacerbated when the messages chop and change.</p>
<p>It’s not just in the energy area where this has happened. Since the Coalition won office in 2013 it has had to alter course on many policies and much of its initial ambition.</p>
<p>The early attempts of the Abbott government at swingeing changes quickly collided with the realities of an angry public and a truculent Senate.</p>
<p>Releasing a <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/productivity-review/report">report on Tuesday</a> from the Productivity Commission on Australia’s productivity performance, Treasurer Scott Morrison said reform was harder now than in the 1990s, when there was “a lot of low hanging fruit” and “the burning platform” of recession “focused the debate and compelled greater bipartisanship”.</p>
<p>These days, he said “reform comes more stubbornly and incrementally”.</p>
<p>“We also need to understand that many Australians are now far more sceptical of change. Whenever governments mention the word ‘reform’ or ‘productivity’, they get nervous. They’ve seen this movie before.</p>
<p>"Unlike last time when economic reform was a mystery to most, this time around Australians are more alive to the costs of change as well as the benefits.</p>
<p>"Plus, the economic and political bandwidth available for change is narrower than it once was, made more difficult by the binary way change is viewed and exploited. Who are the winners and who are the losers? Where is the conflict?” Morrison said.</p>
<p>While his argument is right, other factors were also important to achieving reform in the 1980s and early 1990s under the Hawke-Keating government. Some of the change involved trade-offs, under the accord with the trade union movement. And reform was better sold by the political leadership than today.</p>
<p>The Productivity Commission report promotes a reform agenda focused on individuals, “involving the non-market economy (mainly education and healthcare), the innovation system, using data, creating well-functioning cities, and re-building confidence in institutions”.</p>
<p>The recommendations are a mixed bag of old and new, the sensible and – as happens with the commission – the near-impossible, either politically or practically (such as automatic dispensing of medicines).</p>
<p>The report’s language is redolent of that used by Labor, notably when it says that “a key issue will be to ensure that future economic, social and environmental policies sustain inclusive growth – by no means guaranteed given current policy settings, and prospective technological and labour market pressures.</p>
<p>"Productivity growth provides a capacity for higher incomes and poverty alleviation – either directly through higher wages or indirectly by increasing the capacity for funding transfers to lower-income households.</p>
<p>"The motivation for limiting inequality extends beyond its intrinsic value to the desirability of avoiding too great a dispersion in incomes, given evidence that this can, in its own right, adversely affect productivity growth. Public support is also more likely for reforms that offer benefits to the bulk of people.”</p>
<p>Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen said: “The Productivity Commission has pointed out that investment in our human capital is the key to economic growth. Well we agree, we agree strongly.”</p>
<p>Morrison is alert to this possible political crossover.</p>
<p>“I haven’t got up here today to talk about a new inclusion agenda”, he told a CEDA function. “I’m talking about a productivity agenda.”</p>
<p>“From a Liberal-National perspective, we’re coming at this quite differently from our political opponents. This isn’t about social justice. This is about more and better-paid jobs, because I think that’s the best justice for anyone. … This is about lifting living standards.</p>
<p>"I’m not trying to settle scores in health and education as some sort of social justice wars. I’m just trying to lift people’s wages.</p>
<p>"This is not the product of ideology, it’s the product of economics and the economics say pretty clearly that people [who] are healthier and better equipped through the education system are going to do better.”</p>
<p>Sharing ground with Labor can be uncomfortable.</p>
<iframe src="https://www.podbean.com/media/player/k27zv-7889f2?from=site&skin=1&share=1&fonts=Helvetica&auto=0&download=0" height="100" width="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" data-name="pb-iframe-player"></iframe><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86250/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Just as the government hopes it is making progress on the energy conundrum, it finds itself struggling on another front of deep public disgruntlement – the NBN. The rollout of what’s generally considered…Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/850782017-10-04T06:36:30Z2017-10-04T06:36:30ZWhen it comes to the NBN, we keep having the same conversations over and over<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188679/original/file-20171003-31655-k12x24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Another day, another report. Will it change Australia's NBN?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/commscope/36135242623/in/photolist-X49yGx-58wTFJ-58yZYh-58tjze-58yPkE-58tjxV-qPdL5u-9ijNS8-gmLzTi-58tBJp-7E6pXU-pedada-9inXZd-pec2dg-9inQFC-9inGs5-pwFjd6-9inHSQ-9inN2w-7i5suL-pecZDS-9inS5S-9ijPYa-9ijVBD-tcvW-pecmAf-pfbrBU-puD4Jd-9ijHL8-pvEyqj-imfDLH-ptE52G-pedf6g-pwFnEM-pfbrJs-pedd5c-9inPP9-pvEupo-pvGj4n-pec4v2-8LCwEY-pecWBE-gmLuWV-9inNHj-9inTwh-9inPry-peda2Z-pvGhjk-dUqp-pec6Ci">CommScope/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Joint Standing Committee on the National Broadband Network (NBN) <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/National_Broadband_Network/NBN/First_report">released</a> its first report on Friday, just as most people on the east coast of Australia headed into a long weekend, complete with two sporting grand finals. </p>
<p>The release on a Friday afternoon, sometimes referred to by the media as the “<a href="http://politicaldictionary.com/words/friday-news-dump/">Friday news dump</a>”, is generally what governments do when they want the published report to gather dust.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-nbn-needs-subsidies-if-we-all-want-to-benefit-from-it-81562">The NBN needs subsidies if we all want to benefit from it</a>
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<p>In fact, its hundreds of pages actually included two reports from the one committee. The dissenting report, supported by its Liberal Party members, including the committee’s chair Sussan Ley, contradict many of the conclusions of the first, which was backed by the Labor Party members and Australian Greens, among others.</p>
<p>One ironic benefit of the report is that whatever your political view, there will be something that you’re likely agree with. But is that the way to create good internet policy?</p>
<h2>What did the report say?</h2>
<p>The report is from the <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/National_Broadband_Network">latest committee</a>, formed in September 2016, to inquire and report on the rollout of the NBN. It replaced the <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/National_Broadband_Network">Senate Select Committee on the NBN</a> that operated between 2013 to early 2016.</p>
<p>The report makes 23 recommendations. These range from recommending that the NBN cost and plan for a switch for all remaining <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber_to_the_x">Fibre to the Node</a> (FTTN) connections to use <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber_to_the_x">Fibre to the Curb</a> (FTTC), through to recommending that the government measure and report on “digital inclusion”.</p>
<p>Many of these recommendations are dismissed or ignored in the Chair’s dissenting report. </p>
<p>As political and business commentator Alan Kohler <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/alan-kohler/nbn-report-a-waste-of-time/news-story/bf0d6fb2f3ce7d5b9d61054d1af3f976">summarised</a> in The Australian:</p>
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<p>Like so much of Australian public policy over the past 10 years, the NBN has been hopelessly politicised, so that anything that comes out of any politician’s mouth on the subject can be ignored as most likely unreliable twaddle.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>The challenges of the process</h2>
<p>Given the political nature of the process and the desired outcomes, in my view, there is a bias built into the process from the start. </p>
<p>This is both in how facts are interpreted and presented in the report, and how groups, companies and individuals with specific vested interests use committees as a means of stating their claims. </p>
<p>The report claims for example that FTTC is a “future-proofed technology” whereas FTTN is not, but little evidence is given to back up the claim. </p>
<p>It appears “future-proofing” is simply a term for the fact that FTTC would theoretically cost less to upgrade than FTTN, but complete data is not offered.</p>
<p>In another case, the report discusses complaints made to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman about connection delay issues, citing a “slight decrease” in the number of complaints relative to the number of activated premises. </p>
<p>The decrease is not entirely insignificant: for example, complaints made about 0.98% of total new connections in quarter three of 2015-16 dropped to 0.56% in quarter two of 2016-17.</p>
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<p>The rate of fault complaints about NBN services has also dropped slightly over time and is running at 0.15% of premises activated (2,460 complaints made out of 1,652,564 premises activated over time in quarter two of 2016-17). </p>
<p>Another key problem with committees of this sort is that during the time it takes to investigate, write and publish the report, events have overtaken the process.</p>
<p>The report recommends that the NBN cost a plan to substitute FTTC for FTTN. This has <a href="https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-says-fttc-dreams-thwarted-by-board-govt-469967">already happened</a> after a fashion, with NBN Co presenting costing to the NBN Co board and to the government. The proposal was apparently rejected because it would have been too expensive and not kept NBN Co’s funding within the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/nbns-bill-morrow-uploads-attack-on-over-competitive-telco-market-20170731-gxm329.html">A$49 billion</a> limit. </p>
<h2>History repeating</h2>
<p>Much of what is included in the report are issues that have been discussed by previous committees, but also more widely in the public sphere. We have seen the same topics, arguments, paucity of data and overreliance on anecdote time and again.</p>
<p>Given the government’s “Friday news dump”, a more general question to ask is whether making submissions to these committees is worth the time and effort?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lack-of-internet-affordability-may-worsen-australias-digital-divide-new-report-81823">Lack of internet affordability may worsen Australia’s digital divide: new report</a>
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<p>I personally attended an expert session in Parliament held by the previous committee in early 2016. The same issues and questions were asked then and by and large the same types of responses were given. Nothing came of that and this report largely rehashes the same conversation. </p>
<p>As Alan Kohler remarked, public policy shaping the NBN has been marked by political motives and to a far lesser extent, economic or social ones. For that reason, data is not being given proper weight, and is often shaped to support a political perspective. </p>
<p>Given the situation, we are perhaps fortunate to have made the progress we have.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85078/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Glance does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The first Joint Standing Committee on the National Broadband Network’s report will please few.David Glance, Director of UWA Centre for Software Practice, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/789112017-06-21T00:36:13Z2017-06-21T00:36:13ZThree charts on: the NBN and Australia’s digital divide<p>The National Broadband Network (NBN) is widely considered to <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-nbn-how-a-national-infrastructure-dream-fell-short-77780">be failing</a> Australians, but it isn’t failing them equally.</p>
<p>Our research, undertaken at the <a href="http://www.flinders.edu.au/medicine/research/centres/centre-for-research-excellence-in-the-social-determinants-of-health-equity/">Centre for Research Excellence in the Social Determinants of Health Equity</a>, seeks to address health inequities by looking at the geographical distribution of infrastructure, including digital technology. </p>
<p>Examining the rollout of NBN technologies <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco2/documents/website-communities-table.pdf">as of December 2016</a>, our preliminary analyses suggest areas of greatest socio-economic disadvantage overlap with regions typically receiving NBN infrastructure of poorer quality. </p>
<h2>Comparing NBN technology with inequality</h2>
<p>To determine socio-economic disadvantage, we used the Australian Bureau of Statistics’s (ABS) socio-economic indexes for area (<a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/seifa">SEIFA</a>) and its index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/seifa">(IRSD)</a> from 2011.</p>
<p>Across Australia, we found only 29% of areas with a SEIFA decile of one (the lowest-scoring 10% of areas) had fibre-to-the-premise (FTTP) – considered the best broadband technology solution available – or fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) connections. So far, around 71% of the NBN technology available in these areas involves inferior options, including hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC), fixed wireless or satellite technologies.</p>
<p>On the other hand, 93% of areas with a SEIFA decile of 10 (the highest-scoring 10% of areas) had FTTP or FTTN.</p>
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<p>This result tells a similar story to an early analysis by <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/architecture/about/people/profiles/tooran.alizadeh.php?apcode=ACADPROFILE300808">Sydney University’s Tooran Alizadeh</a> of <a href="http://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1504/IJCIS.2015.072156">60 NBN release sites</a> that were announced <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/corporate-information/media-centre/media-releases/nbn-co-releases-12-month-national-rollout-plan.html">in 2011</a>. She found some of the most disadvantaged areas of Australia were not gaining equal access to the new infrastructure. </p>
<p>If we look only at major cities in Australia – where the level of fibre technology is higher overall – areas with the greatest disadvantage, while exceeding similarly disadvantaged areas nationally, still received significantly less FTTP and FTTN: 65% of areas with a SEIFA decile of one had FTTP and FTTN, compared with 94% of areas with a SEIFA decile of 10. </p>
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<p>Of course Australia is a large, sparsely populated country, which makes the business case for rolling out fibre difficult in some regions. Nevertheless, inequitable access to NBN technology appears even when controlling for the remoteness of the location. </p>
<p>If we look at outer regional Australia where fibre is less prevalent, the pattern looks worse. Only 12% of the most disadvantaged areas with a SEIFA decile of one received FTTP and FTTN, compared with 88% of the most advantaged outer regional areas with a SEIFA decile of nine.</p>
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<p>Receiving FTTP or even FTTN may still be better than receiving HFC, fixed wireless or satellite technologies. While HFC may be able to match maximum speeds of FTTN, this is unlikely to happen during peak times when the increased number of users sharing the same data capacity <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/it-news/nbn-alternatives-fibre-to-the-node-or-hfc-cable-20131219-hv6hd.html">will slow service considerably</a>. And, similar to FTTN, these technologies provide fewer opportunities to upgrade capacity to meet future demand.</p>
<p>However, given only a limited data set was <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/develop-or-plan-with-the-nbn/local-government-planning/communities-in-the-rollout.html">made publicly available</a> in December 2016 by the NBN company, it is difficult to determine exactly which services are currently installed where. For example, the data set we used does not differentiate between FTTP and the lesser FTTN connection.</p>
<p>It also aggregates some NBN technology into an “other” category, making it impossible to distinguish between HFC and satellite service.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175122/original/file-20170622-3031-jt1gt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175122/original/file-20170622-3031-jt1gt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175122/original/file-20170622-3031-jt1gt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175122/original/file-20170622-3031-jt1gt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175122/original/file-20170622-3031-jt1gt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1013&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175122/original/file-20170622-3031-jt1gt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1013&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175122/original/file-20170622-3031-jt1gt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1013&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>The NBN company offers a <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/connect-home-or-business/check-your-address.html">“check your address” search</a> for its most up-to-date rollout information including technology type, but was unable to share this information with us in a single, usable data set.</p>
<p>A NBN spokesperson said the network was being rolled out across Australia regardless of any socio-economic mapping. </p>
<p>“Determining the sequence is a complex process of weighing up factors including the location of construction resources, current service levels, existing broadband infrastructure, growth forecasts and proximity to nbn infrastructure such as the transit network,” she said in an email. “Only 8 per cent of premises in Australia are not in the fixed-line footprint.”</p>
<h2>Internet access and social inequity</h2>
<p>A faster internet connection is increasingly central to people’s social connections, education opportunities, employment prospects and ability to access services.</p>
<p>This was raised in <a href="http://www.aphref.aph.gov.au/house/committee/ic/NBN/report/1.%20Final%20NBN%20Report.pdf">a 2011 report</a> by the parliamentary Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications. It emphasised the potential role of the NBN in enhancing greater equity in digital access to services in regional and rural areas. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Committee heard that, due to the ‘digital divide’, many of the Australians who could benefit the most from broadband currently have the lowest levels of online participation … The extent of accompanying measures implemented by governments will determine whether the NBN narrows or widens this digital divide.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23144236">Previous research</a> has also found that people from lower socioeconomic groups are already restricted in their use of digital information and communication technologies. This can limit their access to a range of social determinants of health. </p>
<p>When populations already facing disadvantage receive poorer quality digital infrastructure, those with the greatest need will continue to slip farther behind. </p>
<p>Equity must be at the forefront of the NBN company’s considerations as it continues to roll out across Australia. Further entrenching social inequities through digital infrastructure is not the NBN anyone dreamed of.</p>
<hr>
<p>Note: The “contention rate” section of the NBN technology infographic on this story has been updated to improve clarity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78911/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fran Baum receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council. She is a member of the Global Steering Council of the People's Health Movement </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matt Fisher receives funding from National Health and Medical Research Council and is a member of the Australian Greens.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrick Harris receives funding from National Health and Medical Research Council, the Australian Research Council, NSW Health and the Heart Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Toby Freeman receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ashley Schram and Sharon Friel do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The National Broadband Network was meant to provide greater equity of digital access. So far, it’s not looking good.Ashley Schram, Research Fellow, School of Regulation and Global Governance, Australian National UniversityFran Baum, Matthew Flinders Distinguished Professor, Foundation Director, Southgate Institute for Health, Society & Equity, Flinders UniversityMatt Fisher, Research Fellow in social determinants of health, Flinders UniversityPatrick Harris, Senior Research Fellow, University of SydneySharon Friel, Director, School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet) and Professor of Health Equity, ANU, Australian National UniversityToby Freeman, Senior Research Fellow in Health Equity, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/777802017-06-04T20:24:21Z2017-06-04T20:24:21ZThe NBN: how a national infrastructure dream fell short<p>Eight years into the Australian government’s National Broadband Network (NBN) project, the nation has an <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/australias-internet-speeds-lag-behind-world-20170315-guyh4u.html">average internet speed</a> – <a href="https://www.akamai.com/us/en/multimedia/documents/state-of-the-internet/q1-2017-state-of-the-internet-connectivity-report.pdf">50th in the global rankings</a> – that lags <a href="https://www.akamai.com/us/en/about/our-thinking/state-of-the-internet-report/state-of-the-internet-connectivity-visualization.jsp">well behind many advanced economy countries</a>. </p>
<p>Ongoing <a href="https://www.pcauthority.com.au/News/449632,nbn-watch-when-reality-and-transparency-is-the-enemy-of-marketing.aspx">secrecy around the NBN</a>, a project that’s likely to <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-will-the-nbn-really-cost-51562">cost more than A$50 billion</a>, makes it impossible for the public in most cases to know when and what quality service they will receive. Further, new research shows the NBN rollout was <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308596116301677">politically motivated</a> and <a href="http://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJCIS.2015.072156">socioeconomically biased</a> from the beginning. </p>
<p>It is perhaps time to remind ourselves of the ups and downs of the project that was once announced as a dream national infrastructure project for the 21st century. This requires a ten-year journey back in time, before we can figure out what needs to be done next.</p>
<h2>The ups</h2>
<p>In November 2007, after 11 years of Coalition government, Labor was elected on a policy platform that <a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22library%2Fpartypol%2F1024541%22">promised a national broadband network</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://ministers.treasury.gov.au/DisplayDocs.aspx?doc=pressreleases/2009/036.htm&pageID=003&min=wms&Year=&DocType">NBN company was announced</a> in April 2009 to provide terrestrial fibre network coverage for 93% of Australian premises by the end of 2020. Fixed wireless and satellite coverage would serve the remaining 7%. </p>
<p>Looking back, it’s hard to deny the influence the NBN has had on Australian politics. Perhaps the peak influence was when three independent MPs cited the NBN as <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-09-07/the-deal-that-secured-blokes-from-the-bush/2251896">one of the key reasons</a> why they supported a Labor government over the Coalition when the 2010 federal election produced a hung parliament. </p>
<p>The final 60 <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/corporate-information/media-centre/media-releases/nbn-co-releases-12-month-national-rollout-plan.html">early NBN rollout locations</a> were then announced. The plan was for the first stage of the large-scale rollout to follow, connecting <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/corporate-information/media-centre/media-releases/nbn-co-announces-three-year-rollout-plan.html">3.5 million premises in 1,500 communities</a> by mid-2015.</p>
<h2>The downs</h2>
<p>The early NBN rollout experienced significant delays. This attracted a great deal of “<a href="https://www.itnews.com.au/news/public-perception-of-nbn-very-positive-study-371751">overwhelmingly negative</a>” media coverage. Public opinion polls reflected growing dissatisfaction with the national project. </p>
<p>This dissatisfaction and the September 2013 federal election result <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-12/braue-the-inconvenient-truth-for-the-coalition-nbn/5152800">changed the fate of the NBN</a>. In 2013, the new Coalition government suspended the first stage of the large-scale fibre-to-premises NBN rollout to reassess the scale of the project. </p>
<p>In 2014, the government <a href="http://www.minister.communications.gov.au/malcolm_turnbull/news/nbn_co_to_roll_out_new_multi-technology_mix#.WS9mnhOGPUJ">announced</a> that the NBN rollout would change from a primarily fibre-to-premises model to a multi-technology-mix model. The technology to be used would be determined on an area-by-area basis.</p>
<p>This change of direction resulted in a prolonged state of uncertainty <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07293682.2015.1019754">at the local government level</a>. As it was rolled out, the NBN was widely criticised for being <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-nbn-why-its-slow-expensive-and-obsolete-47191">slow, expensive and obsolete</a>.</p>
<h2>Current state of play</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/election-factcheck-qanda-has-the-nbn-been-delayed-59906">Delays continue</a> in the construction of the Coalition’s NBN. What can only be described as a downgrade of the original national project is now seriously <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-01/manning-what-went-wrong-with-the-nbn/7210408">over budget</a>. </p>
<p>In September 2016, a <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/National_Broadband_Network/NBN">joint standing committee</a> of parliament was established to inquire into the NBN rollout. The inquiry is continuing.</p>
<p>The bleak status quo only gets worse when the on-the-ground reality of the NBN rollout is considered. While fibre-to-premises rollout is supposed to be limited in the Coalition’s NBN, disturbing examples of misconduct in the NBN installations are highly concerning. </p>
<p>The image below shows one example of many in which heritage-listed buildings (in this case also public housing) are disrespected to the point that suggests an absolute lack of communication between NBN contractors, local government, or heritage agencies.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171251/original/file-20170529-6367-ez3j2i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171251/original/file-20170529-6367-ez3j2i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171251/original/file-20170529-6367-ez3j2i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171251/original/file-20170529-6367-ez3j2i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171251/original/file-20170529-6367-ez3j2i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171251/original/file-20170529-6367-ez3j2i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171251/original/file-20170529-6367-ez3j2i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171251/original/file-20170529-6367-ez3j2i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One heritage-listed house with two NBN installations (Judge Street, Woolloomooloo, NSW).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image: Stacey Miers</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Who misses out?</h2>
<p>In the Coalition’s NBN, the provision of universal high-speed capacity – as envisioned in the original NBN – has been transformed into a <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1329878X1415100116">patchwork of final speeds and different quality of service</a>. This leads to an important question about equity. It also puts the 60 early rollout locations in the spotlight as these could potentially be the only ones across the nation that enjoy fibre-to-premises NBN.</p>
<p>My <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308596116301677">new research</a> points to the political motivations in the selection of these lucky 60 sites. Voting patterns in these locations were compared with all electorates in the federal elections from 2007 to 2013. The analysis shows the selections were skewed for potential political gain.</p>
<p>ALP-held seats were the main beneficiaries of the early NBN rollout; safe Coalition-held seats were the least likely to receive the infrastructure. </p>
<p>Tony Windsor, one of the three influential independent MPs in 2010, famously said of the NBN:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.computerworld.com.au/article/359747/updated_do_it_once_do_it_right_do_it_fibre_-_nbn_survives/">Do it once, do it right, and do it with fibre</a>. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>He secured priority access for his regional electorate to the early NBN. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BBHJo4HPTGY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Tony Windsor: ‘Do it once, do it right and do it with fibre.’</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, most regional localities were not that lucky. Indeed, research on the <a href="http://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJCIS.2015.072156">sociospatial distribution of the early NBN rollout</a> shows the limited share of regional Australia.</p>
<h2>What to do?</h2>
<p>It is convenient to blame one political party for the state of chaos that the NBN is in right now. However, politicisation of the project has been part of the problem since day one. </p>
<p>Instead, we call for telecommunication infrastructure to be considered for what it really is: the backbone of the fast-growing digital economy; the foundation for innovation in the age of smart cities and big data; and a key pillar of social equity and spatial justice.</p>
<p>In reality, however, in the age of big data and open data, the <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/National_Broadband_Network/NBN/Interim_Report/c04">lack of transparency</a> around the NBN is shocking. In <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=6310e714-d472-44d5-9edc-619582250f24">evidence to the parliamentary committee inquiry</a> in March 2017, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission expressed concern about the lack of transparency on NBN performance. </p>
<p>Policing the <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/federal-police-to-raid-parliament-house-over-nbn-leaks-labor/news-story/fb9f4c34a78174db7b61ca924ff92b0a">leaks of NBN data</a> is not going to clean up the mess. Quite the opposite: the Australian government needs to share the NBN data, so the exact nature and scale of the problems can be determined. Only then can we talk about finding a way forward in this long journey.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77780/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tooran Alizadeh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The highly politicised nature of the NBN has led to a lack of transparency that makes it even harder to fix the mess that has been made of this vital national infrastructure.Tooran Alizadeh, Senior Lecturer, Director of Urban Design, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/753812017-04-18T19:44:59Z2017-04-18T19:44:59ZInflight Wi-Fi highlights challenges of satellite broadband delivery on land and in the sky<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165504/original/image-20170418-32716-4vg4vo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Qantas is currently trialling its new satellite broadband inflight service. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/312677084?src=aU2iLJdYLunQfKIuuoTydw-1-0&size=huge_jpg">from www.shutterstock.com </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Qantas switched on its <a href="http://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/media-releases/qantas-switches-on-fast-free-inflight-wifi/">free inflight internet service trial</a> on April 7, with Virgin <a href="http://newsroom.virginaustralia.com/release/virgin-australia-partners-gogo-and-optus-satellite-introduce-inflight-wi-fi">set to launch</a> its own similar program later this month.</p>
<p>It’s been one year since Qantas made its <a href="http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/qantas-celebrates-thumping-halfyear-profit-and-announces-rollout-of-wifi-for-passengers/news-story/1ccb9a2dd19618aa948acae362699d56">original announcement</a> of inflight Wi-Fi, and five months since the first trial period was <a href="http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/qantas-wifi-put-back-till-201718/news-story/70abae5a40a7da25f104c5be041474da">postponed</a>. Qantas and its service partners acted fast to bring <a href="http://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/media-releases/qantas-switches-on-fast-free-inflight-wifi/">its trial</a> to fruition.</p>
<p>Qantas’ inflight free internet trial across Australian domestic routes will be based on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ViaSat">ViaSat</a> satellite broadband service, and will use <a href="https://theconversation.com/internet-in-space-nbns-plan-to-bring-broadband-to-rural-australia-46618">NBN Co’s SkyMuster satellites</a>. These are the same satellites that deliver broadband internet to remote Australia. </p>
<p>So what will the demand on this service mean for internet customers on land and in the air?</p>
<h2>Satellite broadband in a plane</h2>
<p>The Skymuster geostationary satellites (positioned about 36,000km above Earth) act as an internet bridge, connecting a ground-based internet gateway to broadband customers on the aircraft.</p>
<p>A specialised satellite receiver installed in the plane provides the link to the satellite, in much the same way that a residential broadband installation connects homes to satellites. An onboard network of Wi-Fi routers then provides a direct internet connection either to an entertainment system installed in the seat, or to a compatible device belonging to the passenger.</p>
<p>Compared to onground Wi-Fi, onboard service delivery involves a relatively large number of passengers sharing the same satellite link.</p>
<p>The satellite receiver on the aircraft therefore needs to meet stringent design and operational requirements and can be very expensive for airlines to install across their fleet. </p>
<p>Qantas’ <a href="http://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/media-releases/qantas-switches-on-fast-free-inflight-wifi/">own customer survey</a> cites accessing emails (52%), web surfing (46%), streaming music, TV or movies (31%), accessing social media (30%), and news (30%) as the most popular modes of expected use.</p>
<p>Qantas and other carriers are also seeking to gain more efficiency across their flight management by allowing crew to obtain real-time updates on flight details via in-flight internet.</p>
<p>Through a combination of new satellites with improved capacities, plus optimisation of the data flow from different services accessed by different passengers, service providers are promising better services.</p>
<h2>Movies, not videoconferencing</h2>
<p>Qantas’ <a href="http://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/media-releases/qantas-switches-on-fast-free-inflight-wifi/">announcement</a> claims availability of ten times the speed of conventional onboard Wi-Fi using older satellites. But it remains shy in speculating on the actual speed of the connection that passengers can expect to experience.</p>
<p>Currently, outback residential customers accessing similar services through SkyMuster satellites experience peak speeds of 25Mb per second downstream and 5Mb per second upstream. </p>
<p>Broadband customers in urban areas can expect much higher data speeds. NBN Co recently started offering <a href="https://www.whistleout.com.au/Broadband/National-Broadband-Network-NBN-100Mbps-Plans">100Mb per second and 40Mb per second peak downstream and upstream rates</a>.</p>
<p>If you assume 30% of passengers use the service on a Boeing 737 (trial aircraft, 174 passengers), they can reasonably expect speeds of only a few Mb per second. With content being accessed on 9" seat-mounted displays/tablets or 4-5" mobile phone screens, passengers might be able to enjoy reasonable quality streaming services or watch their favourite footy game live, as has proved to be the case on <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/qantas-free-wifi-the-verdict/news-story/0c3b449915c5610a8ed059cf1927d933">a recent trial flight with Qantas inflight internet</a>.</p>
<p>But as the data streams need to travel long distances (from ground to satellite, and then satellite to aircraft), service can experience time delays, referred to as latency. This may affect the customer experience when real-time interactive communications such as video conferencing or online games are in use.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.viasat.com/products/high-capacity-satellites">ViaSat claims to offer more than 100Mb per second</a> to aircrafts with the use of specialised satellite transmitters and receivers installed on aircrafts. The company is already working with carriers such as <a href="http://fortune.com/2016/11/10/american-airlines-viasat-wifi/">American Airlines</a>. <a href="http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/technology/sdut-viasat-sas-finnair-wifi-airlines-eutelsat-2016sep09-story.html">Finnair, United Airlines and Virgin America</a> also signed up for the services over America and Europe. </p>
<p>Internet delivery company <a href="https://www.gogoair.com">gogo</a> also has a hold on this fast developing market, with other carriers as its partners.</p>
<h2>Delivering internet to a moving target</h2>
<p>Satellites provide broadband connectivity by dividing set geographic regions into smaller areas. Specific beams are set up to transmit and receive signals in an independent manner. This provides more capacity shared among fewer customers, and is designed to optimise service delivery to fixed residences and support applications with low-speed mobility.</p>
<p>For example, Skymuster satellites use a mix of small (135km radius) and wide (325km radius) beams over different regions.</p>
<p>When such service is delivered to aircraft traversing wide distances at very high speeds, handover between multiple beams must be addressed. Depending on the use of smaller or wider beams, such issues could be tackled by networking techniques at the expense of some bandwidth.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165541/original/image-20170418-32693-n5hj1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165541/original/image-20170418-32693-n5hj1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165541/original/image-20170418-32693-n5hj1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165541/original/image-20170418-32693-n5hj1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165541/original/image-20170418-32693-n5hj1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165541/original/image-20170418-32693-n5hj1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165541/original/image-20170418-32693-n5hj1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Wolumla ground station that communicates with the Sky Muster satellites.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/corporate-information/media-centre/image-gallery/satellite-ground-stations.html">NBN Co</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Techniques currently in play to improve delivery of satellite broadband include compression (to reduce the amount of data to be transferred), buffering (by caching every byte of information transmitted) and acceleration (techniques relating to how packets of information are handled and how connections are managed).</p>
<p>The fundamental limitation caused by internet signals traversing back and forth between the earth and space remains a major issue. Also, satellite broadband service depends on wireless transmission over a medium prone to weather effects and volatility.</p>
<p>Any minor drop outs in services are exacerbated by the long round trip delay involved in satellite transmission, as it takes longer to repair and restore connectivity.</p>
<p>Also, when multiple people connect and reconnect via such platforms with significant delays, the resilience of satellite-based connectivity might face challenging stability issues (<a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/rural-nbn-satellite-service-users-far-from-impressed-by-outages/news-story/5af6d8003afc8d6f80aa0d534989e2f8">like those experienced by NBN customers in 2016</a>).</p>
<p>Problems linked to pricing and capping of in-flight data packages also need to be considered.</p>
<h2>Competing interests</h2>
<p>A spokeperson for NBN said that despite the launch of new onboard services, <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/ed-gannon-qantas-wifi-trial-to-leave-country-users-buffering/news-story/68c0eab7c39d0f935b6bb4a5e42f7814">satellite broadband provision to the outback will be prioritised</a>.</p>
<p>But many in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/regional-australia-is-crying-out-for-equitable-access-to-broadband-69711">bush are worried</a> about their state of broadband connectivity. It’s an issue that will likely be exacerbated by expanding demand with growing numbers of broadband-using passengers on domestic air routes. </p>
<p>Broadband use in remote Australia is also increasing, and not just for communication. Many applications based on the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-internet-of-things-16542">Internet of Things</a>” require internet connectivity. </p>
<p>In regional Australia, these range from logistics management, smart farming to facility management in the resources sector. All these services will place growing demand on satellite broadband.</p>
<p>Planning for the time when Skymuster satellites approach capacity limits should be considered. As <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-06/skymuster-launch-successful-better-internet-within-months/7907794">SkyMuster II</a> starts to deliver services, this might relieve the bandwidth demand. </p>
<p>Unlike the case with its <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/corporate-information/media-centre/media-releases/First-demonstration-of-Sky-Muster-service.html">Skymuster I launch</a>, NBN has not yet provided time lines on SkyMuster II in terms of its testing phase or when it will be ready to offer services. Given its successful launch in October 2016, one would expect it should be offering services by now.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FfvrW7Vk-bo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Skymuster II satellite was launched in October 2016.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Another satellite launch</h2>
<p>If there is sufficient demand for in-flight broadband services, it might make it more attractive for the <a href="http://www.farmweekly.com.au/news/agriculture/general/news/nbn-co-moots-need-for-third-satellite/2696049.aspx">NBN</a> to launch a <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/business-spectator/does-nbn-need-a-third-satellite/news-story/16b1bc3d5aeeb7c5fffee73a0212821b">third satellite</a> to meet the growing demand.</p>
<p>In addition, NBN could look at expanding the roll-out of fixed wireless services. This would migrate some customers out of satellite, and relieve the satellite bandwidth for in-flight and other applications.</p>
<p>ViaSat is also <a href="http://spacenews.com/viasat-wants-to-go-small-on-gateways-not-on-satellites/">building its own satellite constellation</a> to offer high speed inflight internet across major international flight routes. The company seeks to cover 90% of the routes.</p>
<p>Qantas hopes to complete onboard Wi-Fi infrastructure installation across its fleet of around 80 aircraft (737s and A330s) by 2018. It is not clear how the fleet would be split across domestic and international routes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/75381/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Nokia Australia, Google and Digital Falcon. In addition, he leads an interdisciplinary research institute - Melbourne Networked Society Institute which has received funding from the Victorian State Government as well as Federal Government and a number of industry partners.</span></em></p>Customers on land and in the sky are placing increasing demands on Skymuster satellites for broadband Wi-Fi delivery - can NBC Co deliver?Thas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas, Director - Melbourne Networked Society Institute, Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Co-Founder/Academic Director - Melbourne Accelerator Program, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/746112017-03-15T19:14:37Z2017-03-15T19:14:37ZAustralians could get faster broadband with more kerbside NBN connections<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160857/original/image-20170315-11529-1gs44bl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The National Broadband Network comes to Hobart.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">STRINGER Image/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="http://www.itwire.com/telecoms-and-nbn/77186-accc-hit-with-big-jump-in-complaints,-inquiries-about-telecoms-services,-vows-greater-focus-on-sector.html">latest complaints</a> about the National Broadband Network (<a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/nbn-127">NBN</a>), including concerns about <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-17/nbn-users-key-complaints-centre-around-slow-speeds,-drop-outs/8031356">slow download speeds and frequent dropouts</a>, show that all is not well with the NBN.</p>
<p>A recent report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also flags Australia’s broadband speeds as <a href="http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/nbn/oecd-questions-cost-of-nbn-and-whether-its-encouraging-innovation/news-story/cd8c023de9b1d8c7a75e3cadaf145960">among the worst in the OECD</a>, beating only Mexico, Chile and Greece in terms of internet speed and penetration.</p>
<p>This <a href="http://www.afr.com/technology/web/nbn/oecd-report-highlights-nbn-failings-as-company-defends-fttn-rollout-20170307-guscjg">raises questions on NBN’s</a> continued use of fibre to the node (FTTN) over a large proportion of the total NBN footprint. </p>
<p>When the coalition government came to power in 2013, it instructed a new NBN management team to stop rolling out fibre to the premises (FTTP) and instead build a multi-technology-mix (MTM) version of the NBN.</p>
<p>But, as <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-nbn-why-its-slow-expensive-and-obsolete-47191">predicted</a>, it is becoming clear that the FTTN component of the network is inadequate for Australia’s future needs.</p>
<h2>Who’s to blame?</h2>
<p>NBN chief executive Bill Morrow has deflected some of the blame for low speeds away from NBN and <a href="http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/nbn/network-chief-says-often-your-computer-problems-are-the-fault-of-the-retailers-not-them/news-story/526b03a71d11f4e56f35361a6c50db44">onto retailers</a>, suggesting that their networks might not be up to the task.</p>
<p>He has correctly pointed that part of the problem is that many customers are <a href="http://www.cio.com.au/article/615109/nbn-pay-up-accept-slow-internet/">opting for cheaper, slower services</a> rather than the more costly faster ones.</p>
<p>In defence of its network, NBN points out that existing <a href="http://www.itwire.com/telecoms-and-nbn/77206-akamai-report-on-internet-reinforces-need-for-nbn-completion-says-nbn-co.html">slow-speed ADSL services dominate the speed data quoted</a> in the OECD report. It suggests that rolling out the NBN out across the entire country will help to improve Australia’s broadband ranking.</p>
<p>But this argument ignores any future developments in other OECD countries. There are numerous broadband initiatives in the OECD, and many of these initiatives use FTTP networks, which offer much higher speeds than FTTN.</p>
<h2>Faster speeds overseas</h2>
<p>Worldwide, the <a href="http://point-topic.com/free-analysis/world-broadband-subscribers-q3-2016/">proportion of fixed broadband services</a> using FTTP has increased by 77% in the past year and those using copper, such as FTTN, have decreased by 11.6%. </p>
<p>While the OECD and the rest of the world are moving forward with ramped-up FTTP deployments, Australia is moving backwards with its continuing rollout of FTTN.</p>
<p>New Zealand, for example, currently sits three places ahead of Australia in the OECD report. But in New Zealand, the telco and internet provider <a href="https://www.chorus.co.nz/">Chorus</a> is installing FTTP around the country. </p>
<p>It <a href="https://www.chorus.co.nz/chorus-launches-gigabit-wholesale-broadband-services-nationwide">announced in September last year</a> gigabit-per-second services across its fibre footprint, starting at a wholesale price of NZ$60 (A$55) per month. This follows the announcement of gigabit services in Dunedin in 2015.</p>
<p>In Spain, more than one-third of customers have <a href="http://www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com/article/3584405/Orange-targets-14m-FTTH-in-Spain-by-2020.html">access to FTTP</a> and this fraction is growing. A similar <a href="http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2015/04/france-orange-ftth.html">surge in FTTP connections</a> is taking place in France. </p>
<p>In the United States, fibre rollouts are expanding, and countries such as Sweden and Finland already have a large penetration of fibre in their networks. Many countries in Southeast Asia either have rolled out, or are rolling out, high-speed FTTP networks.</p>
<p>One of the reasons why FTTP deployments are expanding worldwide is that newer construction techniques and cabling technologies are driving down the cost of FTTP.</p>
<h2>Enter Fibre to the Curb (FTTC)</h2>
<p>NBN Co announced last September that it will <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/corporate-information/media-centre/media-releases/nbn-pushes-fibre-to-the-curb-for-up-to-700000-homes-and-businesses.html">roll out Fibre to the Curb</a> (FTTC) to around 700,000 premises originally slated to use an upgraded version of the Optus HFC network.</p>
<p>FTTC is a relatively new technology in which fibres link the local telephone exchange to small existing pits in the street, outside a home or business. FTTC potentially provides speeds in excess of 500 Megabits per second. </p>
<p>Up to the pit, FTTC is essentially the same as a FTTP. The key difference is that in FTTC, a small waterproof electronic box in the pit <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/blog/the-nbn-project/what-is-fttc-our-latest-network-technology.html">connects the fibre to the existing copper wires</a> that run into the home. </p>
<p>But FTTC is largely untested in large deployments such as Australia’s NBN. So a rollout of FTTC will carry a degree of technological risk.</p>
<p>NBN says it will cost <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/blog/the-nbn-project/setting-the-facts-straight-on-fibre-to-the-node.html">about A$2,800</a> to roll out FTTC to each premises, which is only $630 more than FTTN. Like FTTP, the cost of rolling out FTTC will decrease over time using newer construction techniques. FTTC and FTTP are both becoming more cost competitive.</p>
<p>With speeds as much as ten times higher than FTTN, FTTC has the potential to improve Australia’s rankings in broadband speeds and accelerate Australia’s transition into the digital economy. These were the original objectives of the NBN.</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/blog/the-nbn-project/setting-the-facts-straight-on-fibre-to-the-node.html">blog post</a>, NBN’s chief network engineering officer, Peter Ryan, says that FTTC and FTTN are closely related, and uses this premise to paint a picture of how easy it will be to upgrade from FTTN to FTTC.</p>
<p>But FTTC has a natural relationship to FTTP and not to FTTN. In FTTN, fibres feed a cabinet on the side of a road that is connected to nearby 240-volt power lines. The power supplies backup batteries and banks of electronics that connect to the premises via the existing copper wires.</p>
<p>In FTTC (and FTTP, for that matter) the expensive powered node is not needed, meaning that the cabinets in the street could have to be trashed when FTTN is upgraded. </p>
<p>In an attempt to bolster its arguments for FTTN, NBN <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/blog/the-nbn-project/what-is-fttc-our-latest-network-technology.html">has asserted</a> that those cabinets are “an extremely valuable asset … which can be used for a range of purposes”. But it is very hard to imagine what these purposes could be.</p>
<h2>Taking stock</h2>
<p>Despite the excitement over FTTC, it’s getting harder to cancel contracts for FTTN and move to a more sensible strategy.</p>
<p>Ryan <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/blog/the-nbn-project/setting-the-facts-straight-on-fibre-to-the-node.html">points out</a> it’s not possible to “tear up 18 months” of FTTN planning as that would only delay some connections for two to three years.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The NBN network is like an enormously long train; you can’t just bring things to a complete stop and change direction, it just doesn’t work that way and never will.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74611/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rod Tucker's research has been financially supported by the Australian Research Council, Alcatel-Lucent, and the Victorian Government. He was a member of a Panel of Experts that provided advice to the Rudd Government on the National Broadband Network. The Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society received cash and in kind support from a range of companies including Optus, NBNCo, Ericsson, Microsoft, Cisco and Google, through its industry partner program and research collaborations.</span></em></p>The NBN could offer faster broadband to more people if it could widen its planned Fibre to the Curb rollout.Rod Tucker, Laureate Emeritus Professor, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/684242016-12-16T00:30:18Z2016-12-16T00:30:18ZHow to choose the best NBN plan for your needs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149611/original/image-20161212-31402-1hpkqvt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Which NBN plan should you use to connect to the internet?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mawari/8743553373/">Flickr/Hideya HAMANO</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the National Broadband Network (<a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/nbn-127">NBN</a>) <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/learn-about-the-nbn/rollout-map.html">roll out continues</a>, those privileged to have access to the network will be hunting for bargains when it comes to choosing a broadband plan.</p>
<p>Currently there are large number of broadband plans from 69 registered internet service providers (ISPs) along with a number of re-sellers for consideration. </p>
<p>With so many players, and recent additions such as <a href="https://myrepublic.net/au/?gclid=CjwKEAiAvZTCBRDvnoOaoa2j3xISJABxPjN9tl03Q47wTC0zeXPIfQqfD6VjgIy32KpdtbxttLqBEBoC2Mfw_wcB">MyRepublic</a> from Singapore, picking the right deal can be exhausting and confusing.</p>
<p>There are online sites such as <a href="https://www.whistleout.com.au/Broadband/National-Broadband-Network-NBN-Plans">whistleout</a>, <a href="https://www.finder.com.au/broadband-plans">Finder</a> and others that help you to investigate the various broadband packages, without having to reveal your location or identity. </p>
<p>Your choice has to be made based on matching a plan to your needs, desired speed of internet connection, cost of contract, quality of service and customer satisfaction ratings of your short-listed service providers. </p>
<p>Unlike countries such as the UK, where industry regulator <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/media/media-releases/2015/broadband-speeds-november2014">Ofcom</a> checks the offerings by ISPs, in Australia we do not have a good mechanism to keep ISPs honest about the data speeds and quality of experience customers can expect.</p>
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<h2>Know thyself</h2>
<p>Your journey into selecting a broadband plan has to start with knowing your internet consumption and associated <a href="https://www.whistleout.com.au/Broadband/Guides/Broadband-Usage-Guide">data requirements</a>.</p>
<p>The demographics of who lives in your household and the differences in their usage patterns will affect the data and bandwidth requirements. </p>
<p>Crunching the <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/8146.0">latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics</a>, Australians aged 45-65+ spend on average about 32 hours per month online, while for 25-44 year olds it is 40 hours and 70 hours for 15-24 year olds.</p>
<p>How does internet usage translate to data requirements? Data requirements can vary hugely depending on the type of internet usage. So let’s look at some categories of internet users based on how they use the internet.</p>
<p>While many classifications categorise users by generation, here we group people based on how they use the internet, as this is more relevant to determining your data needs.</p>
<p><strong>Web Surfer</strong> – if you just use the internet to access emails, surf the web and make voice calls, and possibly low levels of social media access or the occasional YouTube video, you will consume about 150-300MB per hour.</p>
<p><strong>Online Gamer</strong> – Games typically require around 40MB per hour, but this could increase with the rise of virtual reality games. In fact, most gaming data usage comes from downloading new games or large updates. When you factor this, you will need about 100-200GB per person for a month, but that could vary widely.</p>
<p><strong>Social Networker</strong> – in addition to casual use, you might be a heavy user of social networking, both posting and downloading images and videos. Your social network use could consume about 120MB per hour, with video adding another 3.5GB per hour. If you’re in this category, you would consume around 1.8GB per hour.</p>
<p><strong>Video Frenzy</strong> – if you stream a lot of video and audio via services like Netflix, Presto, Stan or YouTube, then depending on the quality, you could use around 3.5GB per hour on average. </p>
<p>If you consider a household of one casual Web Surfer (32 hours on internet per month), one Social Networker (40 hours/month) and one Video Frenzy (60 hours/month), the household would need up to 320GB/month data package . </p>
<h2>Speed and latency</h2>
<p>NBN plans are structured around a <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/learn-about-the-nbn/speed.html">five tiers</a> of connectivity offered by nbn co, with a range of download/upload speeds:</p>
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<p>As a rough guide, Tier 1 may be sufficient if you’re a Web Surfer, while Tiers 2 and 3 may be well suited for households with multiple Social Networkers.</p>
<p>When using bandwidth-intensive applications, such as video streaming, and interactive applications, such as online gaming, your experience will largely depend on the speed of the connection and how much delay or latency there is in the network.</p>
<p>Tier 4 connectivity would be ideal if you’re a Video Frenzy user and possibly for an Online Gamer, depending on the games you play.</p>
<p>A household with serious Online Gamers and multiple Video Frenzy users might be better off going for a Tier 5 service. Similarly, business users with video conferencing facilities might be better off with a Tier 4 or 5 service. </p>
<p>The speed of access might depend on many other factors: number of users, type and location of services you access and how they are configured and your dominant usage time in the day (peak hours or not for example). </p>
<p>One metric – speed of connection during peak hours – has become an important measure. This has been <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/71540/fixed-bb-speeds-nov15-report.pdf">published by OFCOM</a>, the telecommunications regulator in the United Kingdom to gauge the quality of service offering from ISPs. </p>
<p>Australians can only hope this could be tackled by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/regulated-infrastructure/communications/monitoring-reporting/broadband-performance-monitoring-reporting-program">broadband monitoring proposals</a> with data made public for consumers to educate themselves about better ways to differentiate between broadband services. </p>
<p>At this point, broadband speed testing and customer reviews can only provide a rough guide for you in this selection. </p>
<h2>Pricing of NBN services</h2>
<p>NBN broadband plans on offer have various cost elements such as monthly fee, upfront cost, minimum contract period and associated minimum costs (with contract terms varying from one month to 24 months), and variable cost for the remaining subscription period. </p>
<p>Even for a base level <a href="https://www.whistleout.com.au/Broadband/National-Broadband-Network-NBN-12Mbps-Plans">Tier 1 service</a>, the median monthly fee is around A$50, with a range of prices between A$29 and A$60 depending on the data allowance and other factors. The minimum contract period can vary from one month to 24 months and the upfront cost can be anywhere from nothing to A$230. </p>
<p>The best way to compare plans would be to determine the total cost for a 24 month subscription. Total contract price for a Tier 1 service now vary from A$940 to A$2,190 with a median contract price of A$1,355. </p>
<p>Similarly, a comparison of available offerings under various Tier 5 plans can be scanned via <a href="https://www.whistleout.com.au/Broadband/National-Broadband-Network-NBN-100Mbps-Plans">Whistleout</a>. Packages can start at a monthly fee of around A$60 and a contract price of A$1,444. The monthly fee can be as high as A$100 and 24 month subscriptions can be as high as A$2,500.</p>
<p>It may be that you start on a lower plan will find yourself needing to upgrade to higher Tier services. The market, is starting to extract more value and getting people onto higher tier services. </p>
<p>You should consider what will be the cost implications and contract condition limitations of upgrading your package. A higher Tier service right from the start might be a better option if you anticipate your usage is likely to be different within the contract period. </p>
<h2>Customer satisfaction of ISPs</h2>
<p>ISP performance is the biggest factor to consider when selecting a broadband plan, yet in Australia there is not enough transparency or reporting requirements on ISPs to publish their performance data. </p>
<p>While you may subscribe to a particular speed of connection, ISP performance might vary, and at peak times connection speeds could plummet affecting your experience.</p>
<p>The consumer group <a href="https://www.choice.com.au/">Choice</a> publishes <a href="https://www.choice.com.au/electronics-and-technology/internet/connecting-to-the-internet/articles/isp-satisfaction-survey-2015">customer satisfaction ratings</a> and it could be the starting point when it comes to how ISPs are perceived to be meeting expectations. </p>
<p>You can also find reviews on sites such as <a href="http://www.productreview.com.au/c/internet-service-providers.html">Product Review</a>, <a href="http://www.ozbroadbandreview.com/">Ozbroadbandreview</a> and <a href="http://whirlpool.net.au/">Whirlpool</a>. </p>
<p>Australia is seriously lacking a systematic reporting of ISP performance and needs a better performance reporting framework to educate broadband users, to drive effective competition and proper service differentiation. </p>
<p>As the NBN deployment accelerates, there is an urgent need to improve the performance of broadband service and service differentiation as well as delivering a better quality of experience. </p>
<p>The ISP industry, nbn Co as well as competition watchdogs such as the ACCC need to develop a better performance reporting framework if we are to reap the better experience from the public investment in building the national broadband network.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Adam Lodders, executive officer of the Melbourne Networked Society Institute, co-authored this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68424/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas receives funding from the Australian Research Council as well as industry partners such as Nokia and Google and leads the interdisciplinary research institute - Melbourne Networked Society Institute which has received funding from the Victorian State Government, Federal Government as well as a range of industry partners.</span></em></p>As more people gain access to the National Broadband Network, so more plans are on offer. Here’s how to pick the best plan for your needs.Thas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas, Director - Melbourne Networked Society Institute, Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Co-Founder/Academic Director - Melbourne Accelerator Program, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/697112016-12-06T19:11:08Z2016-12-06T19:11:08ZRegional Australia is crying out for equitable access to broadband<p>Internet and broadband connectivity are the foundation of the <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/530241/revolution-in-progress-the-networked-economy/">networked economy</a>. But to ensure the benefits of the networked economy are evenly distributed, the Australian government needs to ensure access to the internet to encourage and support innovation. </p>
<p>A recent report from SGS Economics and Planning highlights a <a href="https://www.sgsep.com.au/application/files/3014/5542/2965/Australian_Cities_Accounts_2014_15_FINAL.pdf">widening gap</a> between the economic workhorses of Sydney and Melbourne and regional Australia. </p>
<p>All of the key sectors experiencing growth depend upon the networked economy. The emerging economic environment is leveraging the rapid rise in real-time connectivity between people, businesses, devices and systems. </p>
<p>The result is the digitisation of many transactions and growing importance of data. The Productivity Commission’s draft report on data use and availability highlights the need for clear thinking to make this transformation <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/current/data-access/draft">fair for all stakeholders</a>. </p>
<p>When the telephone network was rolled out, this was enshrined in the Universal Service Obligation (<a href="http://www.acma.gov.au/Industry/Telco/Carriers-and-service-providers/Obligations/universal-service-obligation-obligations-i-acma">USO</a>), a framework to provide a basic level of connectivity. </p>
<p>A key question is whether the USO principle of connectivity is sufficient for the emerging Australian networked economy. The answer is very clearly “yes”. But urgent attention is required to deliver fair, equitable and cost-effective access to broadband and internet connectivity to enable economic development in the cities and the regions.</p>
<p>To be digitally inclusive, Australia needs to overcome the digital divide. There is a significant divergence in the nature and availability of communication and internet services for regional Australia. </p>
<p>nbn co’s <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco2/documents/nbn-broadband-index.pdf">broadband index</a> clearly highlights the widening gap between metropolitan areas and regional areas not serviced by an NBN plan. </p>
<p>The reaction from regional Australia has been very clear. A new <a href="http://accan.org.au/rrrc-coalition">Regional, Rural and Remote Communications Coalition</a> between the Australian Customer Action Network (<a href="http://accan.org.au/">ACCAN</a>), the <a href="http://www.nff.org.au/">National Farmers’ Federation</a>, the <a href="https://cwaofnsw.org.au/">Country Women’s Association</a> of NSW, the <a href="http://www.icpa.com.au/">Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association</a> and <a href="http://www.agforceqld.org.au/">AgForce Queensland</a> is advocating for better access in five key areas. </p>
<p>This sentiment is supported by Internet Australia’s <a href="https://www.internet.org.au/docs/media/458-24-july-2016-news-release-internet-australia-responds-to-productivity-commission-uso-inquiry-the-internet-is-for-everyone/file">submission to the Productivity Commission</a>. The group, which includes the <a href="http://networkedsociety.unimelb.edu.au/">Melbourne Networked Society Institute</a>, argues for important changes to ensure connectivity. </p>
<p>So, what is being advocated? </p>
<h3>Universal service obligation</h3>
<p>Australians need a new <a href="http://www.acma.gov.au/Industry/Telco/Carriers-and-service-providers/Universal-service-obligation">USO</a> provision that incorporates both voice and data connectivity to ensure internet access is guaranteed to all citizens. </p>
<p>This will address digital cohesion and ensure everyone can participate in the growing networked economy. nbn co should be allowed to provide retail services to customers where there is only one commercial provider to encourage competition and access. </p>
<h3>Service guarantees and reliability</h3>
<p>As broadband deployment and uptake increase, service offerings need to provide better and more transparent guarantees to customers. The network should have better reliability measures and offer services with certain quality of customer experience. </p>
<p>Countries such as the UK already provide a <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/71540/fixed-bb-speeds-nov15-report.pdf">reporting framework</a> to make ISPs accountable for their performance. This includes the speed of connection customers can expect to receive during peak hours. </p>
<p>Such requirements support competition by focusing service providers on differentiation while lifting performance. This creates incentives for investing in resources to address emerging issues such as the effect of backhaul networks on broadband performance.</p>
<h3>Mobile network access</h3>
<p>Mobile network technology is critical for the economic activities of regional Australia. Ensuring that network coverage is expanded to everyone also promotes social cohesion. </p>
<p>Regional Australia needs network coverage to take advantage of emerging opportunities from technologies such as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/internet-of-things-1724">internet of things</a>. This will enable significant productivity gains in industry sectors such as mining and resources, agriculture and food processing, as well as professional services. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://industry.gov.au/innovation/DigitalEconomy/enabler/index.html#one">government commitment</a> to mobile network coverage is a key step to guarantee such investments and make it attractive for network operators to build the network. </p>
<h3>Fair and equitable broadband access</h3>
<p>nbn co’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/internet-in-space-nbns-plan-to-bring-broadband-to-rural-australia-46618">SkyMuster</a> satellite services (the second satellite will be available in 2017) and its fixed wireless services will face significant demand, which presents issues for fair and equitable access. This will create difficulties in matching the needs of different stakeholders across regional Australia. </p>
<p>On the one hand, new services such as internet access on (<a href="http://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/media-releases/inflight-wifi-a-step-closer-for-qantas-customers/">Qantas</a> and <a href="http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/wifi-coming-to-australian-airlines-not-a-moment-too-soon/news-story/086eb5525ff00414deaac11644bd0fc9">Virgin</a>) flights could potentially add congestion to satellite services, depending on the access and allocation of resources. </p>
<p>Alternatively, new business opportunities enabled by the internet of things and the digital economy might demand low-latency connectivity, which a satellite service cannot provide in regional Australia. </p>
<p>Therefore, to realise the potential gains, nbn co needs to support investment in development and adoption of new broadband technologies that can provide greater bandwidth, or lower latency, services cost-effectively to regional Australia.</p>
<h3>Digital capacity building</h3>
<p>Through the government’s digital transformation agenda, it is imperative to ensure regional Australia is empowered through programs focused on digital capacity building. </p>
<p>This should include skills development, assistance to access new technologies and support for businesses and consumers. As the data becomes a key economic enabler, data skills and platforms for regional Australia will also become a major priority.</p>
<p>While the case for lifting the economic and social participation of regional Australia in the emerging networked economy is very strong, will the policy framework evolve to make it a priority? The bush is crying out for equitable access to broadband.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69711/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas receives funding from the Australian Research Council and industry partners such as Google and Nokia. He is also the Director of Melbourne Networked Society Institute which has received funding from the Victorian State Government, Federal Government as well as a number of industry organisations. </span></em></p>A new coalition of bodies representing regional Australia is calling on the government to help guarantee better access to the internet and the networked economy.Thas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas, Director - Melbourne Networked Society Institute, Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Co-Founder/Academic Director - Melbourne Accelerator Program, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/612882016-06-22T08:03:41Z2016-06-22T08:03:41ZThe need for speed: there’s still time to fix Australia’s NBN<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127650/original/image-20160622-19783-18fe51l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australia's is spending billions of dollars a national infrastructure 'that just about meets demand today'.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Dario Lo Presti </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A National Broadband Network (<a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/nbn">NBN</a>) based on Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) was, and still is, the right answer for Australia’s broadband needs.</p>
<p>Compared to the original FTTP-based NBN, we are currently on the way to a much poorer performing <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/learn-about-the-nbn/network-technology.html">broadband network with a mix</a> of FTTP, fibre to the node (FTTN) and other technologies. It will entail increased long-term costs and be completed at about the same time as the original project would have been completed.</p>
<p>Around the world, the direction in which new builds of fixed broadband networks are headed has become clear. The world is increasingly moving towards FTTP. As a consequence, advances are being made in FTTP technology that make it cheaper and easier to deploy. </p>
<p>These developments, which have taken place in the last few years, have only reinforced the rationale for basing Australia’s NBN on FTTP. </p>
<h2>Not too late to change</h2>
<p>It is not too late to change the current direction of the NBN, but that change would need to be made in a controlled and managed way to ensure the project is not subject to another major disruption.</p>
<p>Why has it been so hard to get at the facts regarding the costs and timing of the FTTP-based NBN? The answer, as we all know, is that the NBN project has been from its inception a contentious political issue.</p>
<p>Initiated by the Labor party back in 2009, it was a good example of a government being courageous enough to initiate a large and complex project for the public good. </p>
<p>The original NBN was a visionary project and would have created a valuable asset for the Australian public. It didn’t take long, though, for the attacks on the project to start.</p>
<p>But the fact – <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-21/fact-check-australias-internet-speed-rank/7509352">confirmed this week</a> - remains that over the past three years, Australia’s world ranking for average peak connection speeds dropped from 30th to 60th. We shouldn’t have been happy with being ranked 30th in the first place.</p>
<p>Yet the drivers of faster speeds and capacities for fixed broadband have not abated. Quite the contrary. </p>
<p>The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows internet usage has been <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/the-netflix-effect-australian-data-consumption-grows-faster-than-ever-in-2015-20160406-gnzudo.html">increasing over the years</a>, from <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/8153.0Dec%202010?OpenDocument">191,839 terabytes</a> downloaded in the month of December 2010 to <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/8153.0Main%20Features4December%202015?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=8153.0&issue=December%202015&num=&view=">1,714,922 terabytes</a> in December 2015. That’s nearly a ninefold increase in five years.</p>
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<p>What’s more, Cisco is forecasting that global broadband speeds will <a href="http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-provider/visual-networking-index-vni/complete-white-paper-c11-481360.html">nearly double between 2015 and 2020</a>.</p>
<h2>From megabits to gigabits</h2>
<p>That’s why the debate in the United States and Asia is about gigabit per second speeds, not about whether 25MBps or 50Mbps is sufficient.</p>
<p>It is a bit surprising that we continue to hear the argument that <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/federal-election-2016/federal-election-2016-no-paying-customers-for-topspeed-nbn/news-story/4b4413b0cb11518da0f825b494bf1daf">nobody is buying a 1Gbps service today</a>, so why build a network that can deliver that much speed? 25Mbps to 50Mbps is more than enough. </p>
<p>This has been a mantra for the Coalition, and it was supported in the view by the <a href="https://www.communications.gov.au/departmental-news/terms-reference-nbn-panel-experts">Vertigan committee</a>, which was set up to review the NBN. In its <a href="https://www.communications.gov.au/departmental-news/independent-cost-benefit-analysis-nbn">final report</a>, the committee assumed that the <a href="http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/553475/vertigan_broadband_demand_forecast_leaves_nbn_co_ceo_curious_/">median household would require only 15Mb/s by 2023</a>.</p>
<p>It seems especially curious that a government that styles itself as the innovation and infrastructure government should argue this. Because this argument betrays a complete lack of understanding of what the original FTTP NBN was all about. </p>
<p>It was about providing the vital infrastructure that Australia needs in order to remain competitive internationally in the 21st century.</p>
<p>It is arguable that, today, most homes and businesses can get by with speeds of up to 50Mbps. But already there are many home-based businesses that can’t and are demanding 100Mbps or more. </p>
<p><a href="http://highspeedgeek.com/america-gigabit-internet/">Gigabit services</a> are just starting to emerge elsewhere in the world, so the applications that can take advantage of this type of speed are in their infancy. But we all know they are coming.</p>
<p>To spend billions of dollars on building a major piece of national infrastructure that just about meets demand today, but doesn’t allow for any significant growth over the next ten or 20 years is incredibly short-sighted.</p>
<p>It is such a pity that so much time and effort has been spent on trying to discredit and destroy the original FTTP-based NBN plan. Equally, it’s a pity the Coalition has put its faith in what has turned out to be a short-sighted, expensive and backward looking multi-technology mix (<a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/blog/the-nbn-project/what-is-the-nbn-multi-technology-mix.html">MTM</a>) plan based on copper.</p>
<p>The nation is going to be bearing the consequences of those decisions for years to come – in higher costs and poorer performance in an area that is critical to its long-term future. Betting tens of billions of taxpayers dollars at this time on copper access technologies, as the Coalition has done, is a huge miscalculation.</p>
<p>The number of telcos still focussed on squeezing out the last bit of value from their old copper networks continues to decrease every year. Even the UK’s BT, which has been the poster child for FTTN, is now <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/03/08/bts-boss-turns-to-fibre-in-effort-to-rule-out-spectre-of-separat/">planning to increase its FTTP deployment</a>, in part as a response to pressure from the UK regulator, Ofcom.</p>
<h2>Come the election</h2>
<p>No matter what the outcome of the upcoming election, the original vision of a broadband network built largely on a future-proof FTTP solution is now going to happen over a longer period and at a greater cost to taxpayers.</p>
<p>The Coalition is likely to continue with the FTTN and Hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) deployments and the peak funding is likely to be in the range of A$49 billion to A$56 billion. It will take a “<a href="https://delimiter.com.au/2015/10/20/switkowski-worried-about-heroic-effort-needed-to-meet-nbn-targets/">heroic</a>” effort, as NBN Co’s chairman Ziggy Switkowski has said, to have the network completed by the end of 2020.</p>
<p>Just when the FTTN equipment will need to be upgraded to provide higher speeds is an unknown but given what is happening overseas, it is unlikely to be very long. No one has yet made public the estimated costs of this upgrade.</p>
<p>Should the Labor party win the election, we can expect <a href="https://theconversation.com/labor-would-upgrade-nbn-to-fibre-to-the-premises-60921">a managed transition from FTTN to FTTP</a>, increasing the number of premises served by FTTP by about two million. </p>
<p>Given what we now know about the deployment costs of FTTP versus FTTN, I would not expect this transition to FTTP to make a big difference to deployment costs or timing of completing the NBN. It will result, however, in a network that is a step closer to the desired end state.</p>
<p>While it is impossible to turn back the clock on the MTM, it is still possible to make changes to the current direction, without introducing another major disruption. Changes that will get us closer to building the right network for the long term.</p>
<p>It is becoming increasingly obvious, especially to customers, that an NBN based on FTTP is a much better network than an MTM-based NBN from every angle – speed and capacity delivery, maintenance costs, reliability, longevity and upgrade costs.</p>
<p>An FTTP network would be a much more valuable public asset and could generate greater cash flows for the government due to lower maintenance, higher revenues and almost no upgrade costs. And it would be vastly superior in driving growth through the wider economy.</p>
<p>So it is a great pity that before making the shift to the MTM, the Coalition did not <a href="http://www.tonywindsor2016.com/nbn_co_telstra_optus_deals_secure_future_particularly_for_country_australians">heed the words re-quoted</a> by the then independent MP for New England, Tony Windsor: “Do it right, do it once, do it with fibre.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61288/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Quigley was affiliated with NBN Co for the period from July 2009 to September 2013. He was NBN Co's CEO during this time.</span></em></p>It is not too late to change the current direction of Australia’s NBN from one that just meets today’s demands, to one that we need for the future.Mike Quigley, Adjunct Professor in the School of Computing and Communications, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/609262016-06-14T04:48:44Z2016-06-14T04:48:44ZLabor’s NBN plan shows it listened to critics of the current broadband rollout<p><a href="http://www.100positivepolicies.org.au/national_broadband_network">Labor’s broadband plan</a> includes few surprises and fulfils Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s commitment to responsibly increase the construction of fibre to the premises (<a href="http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/43551/fttp">FTTP</a>). At the same time, it would ensure the completion of the National Broadband Network (NBN) is not delayed further.</p>
<p>It shifts the focus back to providing Australia with broadband infrastructure that would slowly arrest the country’s <a href="http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/nbn/as-australias-global-internet-ranking-slips-critics-of-fttn-grow-louder/news-story/179031f43ad8053b959ca92177996ee8">slide in the global broadband rankings</a>. Importantly, this would help business compete in the global digital economy.</p>
<p>Under Labor’s broadband plan, NBN Co would connect an additional two million premises to the NBN with FTTP rather than the technically inferior fibre to the node (<a href="http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/43550/fttn">FTTN</a>). Existing contracts for hybrid fibre-coaxial (<a href="http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/44220/hfc-network">HFC</a>) remediation, upgrades and new construction would continue under Labor. </p>
<p>If elected, then according to Labor’s projections, by the time the NBN is completed in June 2022, connections to the NBN would include 21% FTTN, 39% FTTP, 34% HFC and 8% fixed wireless and satellite.</p>
<p>The public equity contribution to the NBN remains capped at A$29.5 billion and the total funding is capped at A$57 billion under Labor’s plan. This is A$1 billion more than NBN Co’s current projections.</p>
<h2>Good for business and consumers</h2>
<p>An <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/opinion/slipping-to-the-wrong-side-of-the-broadband-ledger/news-story/3cba944aac31d0a27ad9203075d4306a">all-fibre-access network</a> is vital for business to compete in the global digital economy.</p>
<p>Labor has listened to the growing criticism that Australia has retreated from the “gigabit race”, where nations are competing to build superior broadband networks using the latest FTTP technology to support new business opportunities and innovation.</p>
<p>Labor has also listened to consumers who want the NBN rollout to be completed as soon as possible and <a href="http://www.theherald.com.au/story/3843243/hunters-broadband-headache-nbn-in-crisis-poll/">preferably</a> with the quality and reliability of FTTP.</p>
<p>There is a correlation between broadband quality, speed and capacity and the introduction of new business opportunities and innovation.</p>
<p>The entry of Netflix and other video-streaming services into the Australian market has brought about rapid growth in streaming services and a corresponding increase in data usage. This, in turn, increases revenue for service providers.</p>
<p>New high-bandwidth education, health, eGovernment and entertainment services, including immersive virtual reality, are being developed. These will add to the demand for gigabit broadband connections and as more consumers shift to using cloud services, the demand for faster upload speeds is increasing. </p>
<h2>The Coalition’s plan</h2>
<p>The key criticism of the Coalition’s broadband plan centres on the government’s failure to listen to <a href="https://theconversation.com/expert-panel-the-state-of-the-national-broadband-network-56073">Australian technology experts</a>. In late 2013 and early 2014, it carried out seven reviews and audits by hand-picked teams, including consultants from Europe. The reviews went to considerable effort to provide justification for the shift to the inferior multi-technology-mix approach.</p>
<p>The Coalition government under Tony Abbott ignored Australian broadband technology experts. Fundamental data used in the reviews and audits have been found to be questionable, if not way off the mark.</p>
<p>For example, the predicted download speed figures required by consumers in 2025 that underpin the 2014 NBN <a href="http://www.minister.communications.gov.au/malcolm_turnbull/news/cost-benefit_analysis_multi-technology_nbn_delivers_$16_billion_more">cost-benefit analysis</a> are <a href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-how-fast-is-the-nbn-54392">already lower</a> than the connection speeds available in many countries today. The growth in demand for higher connection speeds and increased capacity is not expected to abate.</p>
<p>The Coalition’s broadband plan has unravelled over the past two years. Significant time and cost blowouts have occurred. And, in an embarrassing move, Turnbull’s <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130418102307/http://www.liberal.org.au/fast-affordable-sooner-coalitions-plan-better-nbn">2013 broadband plan</a> has been removed from the Liberal Party website.</p>
<p>The NBN is now mentioned as part of the Liberal’s <a href="https://www.liberal.org.au/our-plan/building-australias-infrastructure">infrastructure policy</a>. Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has <a href="https://www.liberal.org.au/latest-news/2016/06/13/nbn-and-bill-shortens-fantasy-economics">criticised Labor’s plan, saying</a> the Coalition would have “every home and business in Australia” connected to the NBN by 2020, two years ahead of Labor.</p>
<h2>Infrastructure Australia review</h2>
<p>In an effort to address a range of issues, Labor has announced it would commission <a href="http://infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/">Infrastructure Australia</a> to investigate and provide a report that includes options on how to proceed.</p>
<p>The independent review would take into account the views of technology experts, consumer groups, business and the telecommunications industry.</p>
<p>As well as considering questions about FTTN and HFC, Infrastructure Australia would be able to consider and prioritise infrastructure needs. This includes a third NBN satellite, increased fibre capacity in regional and remote areas, and the opportunity for NBN Co to roll out a wholesale wi-fi network.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-09/explainer-labor-and-coalitions-broadband-plans/4616818">Malcolm Turnbull was the key driver</a> of the Coalition’s NBN plan. It is time for him to look again at the time and cost blowouts that occurred during his time as the minister for communications and to consider seeking a bipartisan position with Labor.</p>
<p>It is vital for future jobs that Australia builds internationally competitive broadband infrastructure that will return the country to the upper echelon of global rankings. We need to do this within the next decade.</p>
<p>Labor’s NBN plan is positive, forward-looking and takes a pragmatic approach to ramping up the construction of FTTP, ceasing construction of FTTN and ensuring the NBN is completed with fiscal restraint and without further delay.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60926/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark A Gregory receives funding from the Australian Research Council for research into public Wi-Fi and is a member of the Telecommunications Association and Engineers Australia.</span></em></p>If Australia needs to build a broadband infrastructure that would lift its global rankings, would Labor’s NBN plan help do that?Mark A Gregory, Senior Lecturer in the School of Engineering, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/609252016-06-13T08:02:42Z2016-06-13T08:02:42ZHow do Labor and the Coalition differ on NBN policy?<p>As hinted in earlier announcements by Shadow Communications Minister, Jason Clare, Labor’s much-anticipated <a href="https://11217-presscdn-0-50-pagely.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/ALPF133-NBN-Brochure-Factsheet_A4.pdf">policy for the National Broadband Network</a> released Monday commits the party – if elected – to move away from the Coalition’s fibre to the node (FTTN) network and transition back to a roll-out of fibre to the premises (FTTP). This was the central pillar of Labor’s original NBN. </p>
<p>The FTTN roll-out will be phased out as soon as current design and construction contracts are completed.</p>
<p>This is a major shift away from the Coalition’s focus on FTTN technologies, which was a key part of their election platform in 2013. After a number of delays, FTTN equipment is now being <a href="https://theconversation.com/election-factcheck-qanda-has-the-nbn-been-delayed-59906">rolled out around Australia</a>.</p>
<p>Labor will continue with the Coalition’s plans to deliver NBN services on upgraded versions of Telstra and Optus’ hybrid fibre coax (HFC) infrastructure. No doubt Labor would like to move away from HFC, but the contracts for the HFC network are already signed, and it is probably too late to remove HFC from the NBN.</p>
<p>Apart from a commitment to deliver FTTP rather than satellite services to western Tasmania, there are no significant changes to the fixed wireless and satellite parts of the network.</p>
<p>Labor forecasts that its revamped NBN will be completed by June 2022, with FTTP being available to 2 million more homes and businesses than would have been the case under the Coalition’s current plans. At the completion of Labor’s NBN rollout, approximately 39% or around 5 million homes and businesses will have access to FTTP, compared to 20%, or 2.5 million, under the Coalition.</p>
<p>A 39% FTTP coverage is considerably less than the 93% target in Labor’s original NBN plan. But in a significant longer-term policy initiative, Labor has promised to commission Infrastructure Australia to develop a plan to upgrade the 2.5 million premises served by FTTN to FTTP. This will mean that all fixed-line connections in Australia will eventually be either FTTP or HFC.</p>
<p>Labor’s new policy recognises the possibility that new fibre-to-the-distribution-point (FTTdP) technologies might become attractive in the future, but has reserved judgement on FTTdP until the technology is more mature. NBN Co is already looking at this <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/blog/the-nbn-project/fttdp-could-provide-a-vital-new-tool-for-building-the-nbn-network.html">technology</a>.</p>
<p>Significantly, FTTdP is compatible with FTTP and offers a straightforward upgrade path to FTTP.</p>
<h2>Can NBN Co deliver Labor’s new network?</h2>
<p>Labor has pointed out that NBN Co has an in-house FTTP design and construction capability as well as the IT systems necessary to manage FTTP. In addition, legal agreements in place with Telstra to provide access to Telstra’s ducts and pits. </p>
<p>In fact, in recent months, NBN Co has been rolling out FTTP (including fibre to the basement in multi-dwelling units) at a rate of about 10,000 premises per week. This has been underway at a time when NBN Co has been focusing on ramping up its FTTN and HFC rollout.</p>
<p>With a shift away from FTTN construction, and a shift of resources to FTTP design and installation, it is entirely feasible that NBN Co could double the rollout rate to around 20,000 premises per week. This would be more than enough to serve the 5 million premises targeted over the five-year time-frame of Labor’s roll-out plan. </p>
<h2>Are Labor’s costings sound?</h2>
<p>Labor has not published a detailed budget for its NBN plan. But the total estimated cost ($49 billion to $57 billion compared to the Coalition’s budget of $46 billion to $56 billion) appears to be plausible.</p>
<p>There are a few key factors that support this:</p>
<ul>
<li>The <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/business-spectator/how-much-do-fttp-nbn-connections-really-cost/news-story/74dadb937448c9efefecde5e7d6f56b2">cost of installing FTTP</a> has decreased significantly over recent years, aided by new efficient construction techniques and new fibre cables with smaller diameter. </li>
<li>The ongoing operational expenditure needed to keep an FTTP running is considerably lower than for FTTN.</li>
<li>FTTP will remove the need to be repair and maintain <a href="https://delimiter.com.au/2015/12/21/nbn-co-to-pay-telstra-to-fix-its-own-copper-network/">Telstra’s ageing copper network</a>, a cost that NBN Co currently bears. </li>
<li>As the demand for higher-speed services over FTTP grows, NBN Co will receive higher revenues from its FTTP network than its FTTN network. Labor claims this will increase the rate of return on the NBN investment from 2.7% under the Coalition to 3.9% under Labor.</li>
</ul>
<h2>What will be the impact of Labor’s policy?</h2>
<p>Many critics have highlighted the severe limitations of the Coalition’s <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/opinion/mark-day/secondclass-nbn-at-odds-with-agile-agenda/news-story/27774679520d33ceec1ceac8f193db6a">slow-speed FTTN network</a> and its relative inability to <a href="https://www.internet.org.au/docs/media/451-18-april-2016-news-release-internet-australia-issues-a-revised-nbn-policy-calls-for-a-strategic-rethink-and-an-end-to-copper/file">drive digital innovation</a>. </p>
<p>The pace of FTTP roll-outs around the globe is increasing as other countries recognise the critical <a href="https://theconversation.com/broadband-is-the-key-infrastructure-for-the-21st-century-47946">importance of super-fast broadband</a> to economic growth.</p>
<p>AT&T, a major United States telco has essentially stopped constructing FTTN networks, and has announced <a href="http://www.lightreading.com/gigabit/fttx/atandt-preps-for-big-fiber-build-/a/d-id/723695">a major increase in FTTP deployments</a> in response to customer demands for higher speed. </p>
<p>In Australia, the Coalition’s FTTN exacerbates the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-digital-divide-is-narrowing-but-more-needs-to-be-done-25994">digital divide</a>”, the gap between broadband haves and have-nots. Here’s how.</p>
<ul>
<li>Those homes and businesses lucky enough to be served by FTTP can access very-high-speed internet now and even higher speeds in the future. Meanwhile, those premises stuck with FTTN will struggle with lower speeds and find that their connection is obsolete within a few years.</li>
<li>For those customers with FTTN connections, the speed of their service will be affected by their distance from the node. The greater the distance, the lower the speed.</li>
<li>The Coalition’s technology choice program enables FTTN customers to pay for an upgrade to FTTP, but at a cost depending on the distance from the node. A business that needs FTTP and is some distance from the node may have to pay $5,000 or more for an upgrade, while another business close to the node would pay considerably less.<br></li>
</ul>
<p>The NBN has been a key issue in the past two elections, so will Labor’s new policy be a vote winner? The policy to move back to FTTP provides a clear differentiation from the Coalition’s FTTN-centric strategy. </p>
<p>Many Australians recognise the importance of super-fast broadband as a driver of innovation in the digital economy, and will no doubt think of this on July 2.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60925/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rod Tucker has received funding from the ARC and a number of telecommunications companies. He was a member of the Panel of Experts that advised the Labor Government on the establishment of the original FTTP-based NBN.</span></em></p>Now the ALP has released its much-anticipated National Broadband Network policy, it gives voters a chance to see how the Coalition and the Opposition’s plans compare.Rod Tucker, Laureate Emeritus Professor, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/599062016-05-30T04:18:48Z2016-05-30T04:18:48ZElection FactCheck Q&A: has the NBN been delayed?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124254/original/image-20160527-22060-1bhju09.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Was Christopher Pyne right about the NBN?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Q&A</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><strong>The Conversation is fact-checking claims made on Q&A, broadcast Mondays on the ABC at 9:35pm. Thank you to everyone who sent us quotes for checking via <a href="http://www.twitter.com/conversationEDU">Twitter</a> using hashtags #FactCheck and #QandA, on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/conversationEDU">Facebook</a> or by <a href="mailto:checkit@theconversation.edu.au">email</a>.</strong></p>
<hr>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ORmCk6OEOn4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Excerpt from Q&A, May 23, 2016.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<blockquote>
<p>And there has not been a delay of the NBN … Because of Malcolm Turnbull’s management of the NBN, it will all be finished by 2020, not 2024 as Labor was promising, with speeds that people want and need. – Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Christopher Pyne, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s4445605.htm">speaking on Q&A</a>, May 23, 2016.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The election campaign has brought national broadband network (NBN) policy back into the spotlight, particularly as the incumbent prime minister was responsible for the NBN in his previous role as communications minister. </p>
<p>Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Christopher Pyne told Q&A there has not been a delay of the NBN. Is that right?</p>
<h2>2013: the year of election promises and reviews</h2>
<p>The Conversation contacted a spokesperson for Christopher Pyne seeking comment and sources to support his statement, but did not hear back before deadline. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, most of the documents on the recent history of the NBN can be found online. </p>
<p>As acknowledged in <a href="https://www.communications.gov.au/file/315/download?token=8OjaNaNc">this Coalition document</a>, the previous Labor government promised to deliver an NBN by a deadline of 2021 (not 2024 as Pyne stated on Q&A).</p>
<p>Prior to the 2013 federal election, the nbn co under the then-Labor government <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco/documents/nbn-co-3-year-gbe-corporate-plan-final-17-dec-10.pdf">said</a> it planned to deliver a predominantly fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) network by 2021. </p>
<p>But there were <a href="http://www.afr.com/business/telecommunications/telstra-boss-says-nbn-deal-delayed-to-2015-20141014-11cpmp">delays in negotiating with Telstra</a> for access to ducts and pits, the discovery of asbestos in some of Telstra’s network and other <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-will-the-nbn-take-another-20-years-to-complete-16962">teething problems</a>.</p>
<p>In its 2013 pre-election promises, the Coalition said its <a href="http://lpa.webcontent.s3.amazonaws.com/NBN/The%20Coalition%E2%80%99s%20Plan%20for%20Fast%20Broadband%20and%20an%20Affordable%20NBN.pdf">goal</a> was to provide everyone in the nation with access to broadband with download data rates of between 25 and 100 megabits per second by 2016. The Coalition also planned to deliver between <a href="http://lpa.webcontent.s3.amazonaws.com/NBN/The%20Coalition%E2%80%99s%20Plan%20for%20Fast%20Broadband%20and%20an%20Affordable%20NBN.pdf">50 and 100 megabits per second</a> to 90% of the fixed-line footprint by the end of 2019. That election commitment, the Coalition said, “assumes the current NBN Co satellite and fixed wireless networks are deployed on schedule”.</p>
<p>But after the election, the Coalition <a href="http://www.minister.communications.gov.au/malcolm_turnbull/news/strategic_review_of_the_national_broadband_network#.V0UKJPl96Wi">dropped</a> its promise to deliver 25 to 100 megabits per second to everyone in the nation by 2016. </p>
<p>Then communications minister Malcolm Turnbull <a href="http://www.financeminister.gov.au/media-release/2013/12/12/strategic-review-national-broadband-network">said</a> that a December 2013 <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco/documents/NBN-Co-Strategic-Review-Report.pdf">Strategic Review</a> of the NBN commissioned by the new government had found that: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>the NBN is in a fundamentally worse position than the Labor Government at any time disclosed to Parliament or the Australian public.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The strategic review also said that Labor’s NBN would not have been completed until 2024.</p>
<h2>2015: New plans</h2>
<p>In 2015, nbn co issued its 2016 <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco2/documents/nbn-corporate-plan-2016.pdf">corporate plan</a>.</p>
<p>In this document, the company now estimated that Labor’s plan for </p>
<blockquote>
<p>an all-FTTP fixed-line rollout could be completed by 2026 but possibly as late as 2028.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, former nbn co CEO Mike Quigley has <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/article/quigley-pins-turnbull-nbn-cost-blowout-on-mtm-delays-report/">challenged</a> this revised estimate. <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/cm/lb/6907464/data/mike-quigley-article-data.pdf">In a 2015 article</a>, he wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>For that to be correct, one has to assume that, for the next 13 years, nbn co will roll out just 12,300 premises per week on average. Fewer premises than it regularly passes each week today. It is almost certainly true that an all-FTTP NBN would take longer to complete than its inferior MTM counterpart [the Multi-Technology Mix proposed by the Coalition]. But it would likely only be longer by one to three years…</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In late 2015, an nbn co spokesman was <a href="https://delimiter.com.au/2015/08/24/nbn-co-delays-fttn-rollout-for-further-testing/">reported as</a> saying that the company had </p>
<blockquote>
<p>deliberately chosen to take a more gradual approach to [fibre to the node or FTTN] activations than was originally flagged.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>The 2016 leaks</h2>
<p>Early in 2016, internal nbn co <a href="https://11217-presscdn-0-50-pagely.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Scale-the-Deployment-Weekly-Sponsor-Meeting_19Feb2016.pdf">documents</a> were leaked to the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/nbn-malcolm-turnbulls-faster-cheaper-rollout-falters-20160228-gn5l0s.html">media</a>. </p>
<p>These and other leaked documents – which were at the centre of a recent <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-20/election-2016-why-did-australian-federal-police-raided-labor/7432210">Australian Federal Police raid on Labor offices</a> and a staffer’s home in an effort to find the leaker – were reported as showing bottlenecks and delays in the fibre to the node (FTTN) and hybrid fibre coax (HFC) components of the rollout.</p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/corporate-information/media-centre/media-releases/response-to-media-reports-today-monday-29-February-2016.html">response</a>, nbn co said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>NBN has met or exceeded every key target for six quarters in a row.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Current nbn co chair Ziggy Switkowski <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/nbn-co-makes-no-apologies-for-reporting-document-theft-to-the-afp-20160527-gp5g2g.html">wrote</a> on May 28, 2016, that: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The company will meet its targets for the ninth quarter in a row … There are no “cost blowouts” or “rollout delays” to the publicly released plans.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It’s beyond the scope of FactCheck to say with any certainty whether the leaked documents accurately reflect the full picture. </p>
<p>It’s important to note that as any technical and other teething problems are resolved, nbn co should be able to ramp up the roll-out rate to improve its chances of meeting a 2020 project completion date.</p>
<p>Internet access speeds around the world are <a href="https://content.akamai.com/PG5679-Q4-2015-SOTI-Connectivity-Report.html?gclid=CJqs-fOr9MwCFQGbvAodRUQI0Q">growing rapidly</a> and this growth is <a href="http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-provider/ip-ngn-ip-next-generation-network/white_paper_c11-481360.html">expected to continue</a> for the foreseeable future. Australia’s internet speeds are <a href="http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/nbn/as-australias-global-internet-ranking-slips-critics-of-fttn-grow-louder/news-story/179031f43ad8053b959ca92177996ee8">slow</a> compared to other developed countries.</p>
<p><em>Infographic: <a href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-how-fast-is-the-nbn-54392">How fast is the NBN?</a></em></p>
<h2>Verdict</h2>
<p>Christopher Pyne’s assertion that there have been “no delays” in the implementation of the NBN is inaccurate. Some delays occurred under the Labor government, and the early stages of the FTTN rollout under the current government have been slower than the Coalition originally envisaged. </p>
<p>Leaked documents and reported statements by an nbn co spokesperson also suggest delays occurred under the Coalition government. However, nbn co rejects that, saying it has met or exceeded its key targets.</p>
<p>Labor promised a completion date of 2021, not 2024 as Pyne said. It was the December 2013 <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco/documents/NBN-Co-Strategic-Review-Report.pdf">strategic review</a> of the NBN commissioned by the Coalition government that said Labor’s NBN would not have been completed until 2024. <strong>– Rod Tucker</strong></p>
<hr>
<h2>Review</h2>
<p>This article is factual and correct. As stated in the article, delays in nbn co’s rollout is also self-evident by comparing the original deployment date promises made before the 2013 federal election with the revised schedule outlined in the December 2013 strategic review of the NBN, initiated by the Coalition government. <strong>– Thas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas</strong></p>
<hr>
<p><div class="callout"> Have you ever seen a “fact” worth checking? The Conversation’s FactCheck asks academic experts to test claims and see how true they are. We then ask a second academic to review an anonymous copy of the article. You can request a check at checkit@theconversation.edu.au. Please include the statement you would like us to check, the date it was made, and a link if possible.</div></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59906/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rod Tucker has received funding from the ARC and a number of telecommunications companies. He was a member of the Panel of Experts that advised the Labor Government on the establishment of the original FTTP-based NBN.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Nokia Bell Labs, Google and the Victorian State Government and leads an interdisciplinary institute - Melbourne Networked Society Institute which has received funding from both state and federal governments as well as a range of industry partners. </span></em></p>Was Christopher Pyne right to say that “there has not been a delay of the NBN”?Rod Tucker, Laureate Emeritus Professor, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/581502016-04-28T03:30:26Z2016-04-28T03:30:26ZHow high-speed wireless compares to cable in boosting our internet speeds<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120254/original/image-20160426-1355-1wfgw2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Wireless internet may have its uses but cable is still the way to go.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Surkov Vladimir </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia’s national broadband network continues its roll out with <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco2/documents/nbn-rollout-metrics/nbn-rollout-metrics-140416.pdf">more than 900,000 premises now connected</a>, according to NBN Co’s latest <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/corporate-information/about-nbn-co/corporate-plan/weekly-progress-report.html">weekly progress report</a>.</p>
<p>But Google recently announced the development of <a href="http://www.sciencealert.com/google-is-working-on-beaming-high-speed-wireless-internet-into-your-home">high-speed wireless internet connections</a>, which raises the question of which technology is the best for any future broadband network.</p>
<h2>Political influence</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/expert-panel-the-state-of-the-national-broadband-network-56073">technology options</a> for deploying broadband in Australia have reflected political thinking and been heavily influenced by changes in federal government. Broadband technology also keeps improving and the continuing debate about choice of technology is hindering effective investment. </p>
<p>The current option for the NBN is a multi-technology mix (<a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/blog/the-nbn-project/what-is-the-nbn-multi-technology-mix.html">MTM</a>). This approach emerged after a <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco2/documents/nbn-co-strategic-review-report.pdf">strategic review</a> of the project undertaken by the Abbott-Turnbull Government.</p>
<p>MTM has the NBN network comprising optical fibre to the home, hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) cable network, hybrid fibre-copper cable and wireless options (fixed wireless and satellite wireless access).</p>
<p>But Google’s wireless plan adds fuel to the ongoing debate about whether cable connections will soon be obsolete? </p>
<h2>The original fibre plan</h2>
<p>The NBN’s original choice of fibre to the premises (<a href="http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/43551/fttp">FTTP</a>) remains not only the most future proof against rapid changes in technological evolution but also offers the highest speeds of connectivity and lowest delay (latency).</p>
<p>Low latency is very important for the smooth operation of any interactive application. In fact, telecommunications networks rely on optical fibre and the closer that the fibre can get to end user, the better the performance.</p>
<p>Hence, the debate has centred around how best to connect users to fibre over the last few kilometres. </p>
<p>NBN Co is interested in the <a href="http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/597662/telstra-scores-1-6b-nbn-hfc-contract/">HFC cable sourced from Telstra</a> and Optus as it has an installed fibre network base within 10km of the subscribers who are connected by a copper-based coaxial cable. This has greater capacity than the standard twisted copper pair phone lines.</p>
<p>If NBN Co can bring fibre close to a network termination point and then utilise the existing copper based telephone lines, there are new technologies that can push the speeds of connection in the short term to that comparable to fibre.</p>
<p>But their upgradability is low and the last few kilometres of copper as well as the terminal equipment will need to be replaced with optical fibre or other improved technologies in the future. </p>
<h2>Wireless still needs cable</h2>
<p>Even the broadband wireless options being considered by Google rely on a wireless access point located close to the users. That is almost guaranteed to be connected by the optical fibre.</p>
<p>In order to provide wireless access with broadband, the access point needs to have a directional beam towards the user or have a smaller radius of coverage with fewer users. This would imply a significantly large number of wireless access points interconnected by an optical fibre network to provide a coverage to everyone. </p>
<p>There are plans to provide wireless broadband using satellites (NBN’s <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/ten-cool-facts-about-nbns-forthcoming-sky-muster-satellite-service-20160202-gmjpow.html">Sky Muster</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/internet-in-space-nbns-plan-to-bring-broadband-to-rural-australia-46618">others</a>) and other floating platforms (Google’s <a href="https://www.google.com/loon/">Loon Project</a>). </p>
<p>But these cannot offer high bandwidth, as it will be shared by a larger number of users. They would also be significantly limited by the excessive delay caused by getting the signal to space and back again.</p>
<p>There is no one ideal solution, but it depends on the population density. Satellites and other space-based platforms provide universal coverage over the Earth’s surface with reasonable bandwidth in a shared manner. But the delay would be a problem when it comes to highly interactive applications involving audio, video or real-time interactions. </p>
<p>It is ideally suited for hard-to-reach places as well as for providing universal coverage of basic broadband to sparsely located populations.</p>
<p>Alternative wireless technologies, such as those being considered by Google, provide rapid deployment at a lower cost. But they also have a compromise in terms of upgradability.</p>
<p>Similarly, all other hybrid options such as fibre to the node (<a href="http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/43550/fttn">FTTN</a>), fibre to the building (<a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/corporate-information/media-centre/media-releases/nbn-co-launches-fibre-to-the-building-technology.html">FTTB</a>), fibre to the distribution point (<a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/blog/the-nbn-project/fttdp-could-provide-a-vital-new-tool-for-building-the-nbn-network.html">FTTdP</a>) and HFC provide low-cost activation options while deferring the upgrade costs to a future date.</p>
<p>These are options that network operators have when they are making decisions about investing their capital to expand the network, and shorten the time to bring services to market. </p>
<h2>Looming election</h2>
<p>Will the looming election cause a further change in the NBN policy? </p>
<p>Rethinks based on political ideology has <a href="http://www.afr.com/technology/web/nbn/fresh-nbn-leaks-showing-fttn-delays-raise-broadband-policy-questions-20160331-gnv0uz">already caused significant delays</a> and uncertainty regarding the project.</p>
<p>What’s needed is bipartisan commitment to accelerating NBN deployment along with modernising the infrastructure in the core network that will have to support increased access to broadband.</p>
<p>Internet Australia, the body representing internet users, is calling for bipartisan support for any NBN strategy. But it notes that Australia has <a href="https://delimiter.com.au/2016/03/24/australia-huge-slip-global-broadband-rankings/">dropped from 30th to 60th</a> in global rankings for average internet speeds.</p>
<p>So it wants bipartisan support to drop the current MTM strategy in favour to adopting <a href="https://www.internet.org.au/docs/media/451-18-april-2016-news-release-internet-australia-issues-a-revised-nbn-policy-calls-for-a-strategic-rethink-and-an-end-to-copper/file">at least fibre to the distribution point</a>, although it says fibre to the premises would be the “ultimate goal”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58150/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas currently receives funding from the Australian Research Council and Nokia and leads the Melbourne Networked Society Institute which received funding from the State Government of Victoria as well as industry partners such as Google.</span></em></p>Does Google’s plan for a high-speed wireless internet connection mean the current cable roll-out for the NBN will soon be obsolete?Thas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas, Director - Melbourne Networked Society Institute, Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Co-Founder/Academic Director - Melbourne Accelerator Program, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/560732016-03-14T00:08:09Z2016-03-14T00:08:09ZExpert panel: the state of the National Broadband Network<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/114815/original/image-20160311-11288-1jubouf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Should the fibre extend to the street or the premises?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Is the rollout for Australia’s National Broadband Network (<a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/nbn">NBN</a>) on track? Are we employing the right technology for the job? Will the NBN be fast enough to handle future demands?</em></p>
<p><em>The <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/National_Broadband_Network">Senate Select Committee on the National Broadband Network</a> recently asked five of Australia’s leading academic experts to give their views on the state of the NBN.</em></p>
<p><em>Here, each of the experts gives a summary of their views as they presented them to the Committee, raising concerns about the current technology and suggesting there might be ways to improve the NBN rollout using new approaches being adopted overseas.</em></p>
<hr>
<h2>David Glance, University of Western Australia</h2>
<p>The Senate Committee was brought up-to-date with contemporary answers to these questions. It was given examples of companies and countries that thought fibre to the node (FTTN) was an adequate implementation strategy, but have since changed to a fibre to the premises (FTTP) approach.</p>
<p>In the US for example, AT&T <a href="http://www.itwire.com/it-industry-news/telecoms-and-nbn/67807-att%E2%80%99s-switch-to-%E2%80%98extraordinarily-costly%E2%80%99-fttp-oz-nbn-implications">last year</a> abandoned fibre to the node and has switched to deploying fibre to the premises because of the speed and capacity limitations, and because 1 Gigabit per second (1 Gbps) is the “new normal”.</p>
<p>AT&T is also now certain that 25 Mbps will not be adequate for most people, and in fact, won’t be what most people actually want to deploy in their homes or businesses. Households are already consuming multiple simultaneous media streams at whatever definition their network will support. Business, especially in an online innovation-led economy, is increasingly coming to rely on the presence of ultra-fast broadband.</p>
<p>Costs and technologies that make up those costs have also changed. In Australia, since the decision was made to switch to a fibre to the node implementation of the NBN, costs of implementing other solutions, including Fibre to the Pavement (Sidewalk) have come down. Technology solutions like <a href="https://www.alcatel-lucent.com/solutions/g.fast">G.Fast</a> allow short lengths of copper to be used to a home and still deliver 1 Gbps speed.</p>
<p>With technology, especially in the time frame of the construction of the NBN, the rationale for a particular approach will change. In the case of the NBN, most of the answers to the usual questions have indeed changed, and continuing with a fibre to the node approach no longer makes any sense.</p>
<hr>
<h2>Mark A. Gregory, RMIT University</h2>
<p>The NBN is a nation building project that has been hijacked by politics. As a result, the obsolete fibre to the node technology is being rolled to a large number of Australians. </p>
<p>The government should accept the weight of international evidence and move back to fibre to the premises (FTTP). There is an urgent need for a 20 to 30 year life-cycle costing analysis to be completed to provide an engineering cost benefit justification for the NBN technologies to be used in the rollout. </p>
<p>There is a need for a broad panel to be formed that includes academics, industry, consumer representatives and government to discuss the future of the NBN beyond 2020.</p>
<p>It is time for Australia to adopt a “universal access” regime, where everyone can connect reliably to digital services, including health and education and other government services, at all times. This is especially for the socially and economically disadvantaged, including the homeless and itinerant, to be provided with the means to access digital services. </p>
<p>For this reason, <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/">nbn Co</a> should rollout a national wholesale Wi-Fi network to facilitate companies and local government offering free Wi-Fi similar to what is happening now through Telstra Air.</p>
<hr>
<h2>Rod Tucker, University of Melbourne</h2>
<p>Since the days of dial-up modems, there has been a relentless growth in demand for higher broadband speeds. But the <a href="https://www.communications.gov.au/departmental-news/independent-cost-benefit-analysis-nbn">2014 Vertigan report</a> underestimated Australia’s future broadband needs by a factor of ten. Vertigan supported the Coalition’s game-changing shift from fibre to the premises (FTTP) to fibre to the node (FTTN).</p>
<p>Since Vertigan, a lot has happened in the broadband world. For example, the major US telco AT&T has switched from FTTN to FTTP, arguing that demand is growing for speeds that FTTN cannot deliver. And rollouts of FTTP are accelerating in many countries. Australia is rapidly being left behind.</p>
<p>All of this points in one direction: Australia’s FTTN network will be obsolete by the time it is rolled out and will not be able to deliver the speeds that will be needed in the future. </p>
<p>Unlike FTTP and other technologies such as fibre to the distribution point (FTTdP), FTTN will be expensive to upgrade and a future owner of the FTTN network may not bother. Every way you look at it, FTTN is a bad idea. </p>
<p>The notion FTTP is much more expensive than FTTN turns out to be incorrect. The cost of rolling out FTTN is often understated and the cost of rolling out FTTP is overstated. New lower-cost FTTP construction techniques and cost increases for FTTN have changed the equation.</p>
<p>While public attention has generally focused on the fixed network in urban areas, people in rural and remote areas will use NBN’s satellites. Qantas also plans to use nbn’s satellites to provide video entertainment on its flights, sapping bandwidth from people on the ground. A third satellite will alleviate this problem.</p>
<p>My advice to the Senate Select Committee on the NBN is that the FTTN rollout should be abandoned before it is too late, and replaced with FTTP.</p>
<hr>
<h2>Arthur Lowery, Monash University</h2>
<p>I have been in telecommunications for over 35 years now, and co-founded <a href="http://www.vpisystems.com/">VPIsystems</a>, a company that develops software tools for optimising and rolling-out telecommunications systems using multiple technologies, such as national broadband connectivity. </p>
<p>The goal of the NBN is laudable: to provide decent connectivity to everybody in Australia. I’m interested, as a taxpayer, in how this can be done in a cost efficient manner. One of my points is that a rollout is a longish-term endeavour, and maybe it should provide long-term employment for its skilled-up workforce. </p>
<p>Thus, when designing the rollout, a staged approach should be used. Because civil engineering is a large part of the cost, it is prudent to defer decommissioning existing infrastructure close to dwellings (which can support > 1 Gbit/s, as it is short and not shared), and concentrate on the real bottlenecks nearer the exchanges. </p>
<p>This means “fibre-to-the-fence” (G.fast). The fact that many period Australian homes are being rapidly replaced also makes FTTP question somewhat academic. Of course, once fibre is at the gate, it’s relatively easy extend to any building in the future, if needs be. </p>
<hr>
<h2>Thas Nirmalathas, University of Melbourne</h2>
<p>The rapid proliferation of connected devices is transforming connectivity between people, places and things and creating a networked society. This presents many opportunities for citizens, businesses, and governments through the advancement and use of connectivity. </p>
<p>The NBN presents Australia with an opportunity to provide the critical infrastructure for the networked society. It remains the essential launch pad for transformation of key industry sectors, for a data-driven economy, and for delivering greater social equity across the Australian society.</p>
<p>Global rankings of <a href="https://www.akamai.com/us/en/our-thinking/state-of-the-internet-report/">internet connectivity and speed</a> show that Australia needs to improve its standing or risk being left behind by the current wave of innovation. Australia falls short particular on broadband subscriptions and faces a widening gap between peak and average speed of internet connections. </p>
<p>The NBN rollout provides an opportunity for Australia to increase bandwidth and capacity to support innovation. However, in order to meet growing demands to enable innovation the NBN rollout must improve. </p>
<p>The actual rollout rates is falling short of the original targets promised under the NBN. Despite a change in the technology mix and revised network architectural options recommended through the <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/corporate-information/about-nbn-co/corporate-plan/financial-and-strategicreports.html">strategic reports</a>, NBN deployment remains slow across both new and existing sites.</p>
<p>The NBN should plan for a third satellite without waiting for demand saturation. Machine-to-machine traffic arising from connected devices across many key sectors of relevance to regional Australia will demand cost-effective wireless access using satellite or other wireless alternatives such as those that could take advantage of optical fibre networks to provide improved wireless coverage and access.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/56073/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Arthur Lowery receives funding from the Australian Research Council, NHMRC and private benefactors. He is a Director of Ofidium, and a shareholder in Ofidium, Telstra and Odin, and a former shareholder of VPIsystems.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark A Gregory receives funding from the Australian Reseach Council, does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation not identified that would benefit from this article.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rod Tucker has received funding from the ARC and a number of telecommunications companies. He was a member of the Panel of Experts that advised the Labor Government on the establishment of the original FTTP-based NBN.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas receives funding from the Australian Research Council and Nokia Bell Labs (formerly Alcatel Lucent Australia) and currently leads the Melbourne Networked Society Institute which receives funding from a range of industry partners such as Google, Microsoft and State Government of Victoria.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Glance does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Five academic experts recently gave their views to the Senate Select Committee on the NBN. Here’s what they had to say.David Glance, Director of UWA Centre for Software Practice, The University of Western AustraliaArthur Lowery, Professor of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering, Monash UniversityMark A Gregory, Senior Lecturer in Electrical and Computer Engineering, RMIT UniversityRod Tucker, Laureate Emeritus Professor, The University of MelbourneThas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas, Director - Melbourne Networked Society Institute, Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Co-Founder/Academic Director - Melbourne Accelerator Program, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/552322016-02-24T19:02:25Z2016-02-24T19:02:25ZAustralia’s digital divide is narrowing, but getting deeper<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112678/original/image-20160224-16464-1i26rm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Internet access continues to grow but some people are still not connected.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pixabay.com/en/macbook-notebook-apple-device-407126/">Pixabay</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The digital divide continues to narrow in Australia but important divisions persist, and there are clear disparities between different groups in their use of the internet. </p>
<p>It’s a pattern that’s been apparent for some time and it has been confirmed by <a href="http://apo.org.au/resource/new-data-digital-inclusion-abs-household-use-information-technology-2014-15">an analysis of data</a> on the household use of technology <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/ProductsbyReleaseDate/ACC2D18CC958BC7BCA2568A9001393AE?OpenDocument">released last week</a> by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. </p>
<p>First, the good news. The research found 85% of Australians aged 15 and older were internet users and that 86% of Australian households had internet access in 2014-15 (up from 83% two years previous and 67% in 2007-08).</p>
<h2>The digital divide</h2>
<p>The kicker in these figures is that as more and more Australians are online, the disadvantage of being offline grows. So as the divide narrrows, it gets deeper.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, teachers assume their students have unrestricted access to the internet and set homework accordingly; businesses assume their customers are internet users and shape their offerings online; and governments shift resources to digital provision of information and opportunities to interact.</p>
<p>But household access to the internet is not spread evenly across Australian states and territories. At one end of the scale, 94% of ACT households enjoy an internet connection while at the other, only 82% of Tasmanian and South Australian households have access. </p>
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<p>Those living in major cities are more likely to have access than those in rural and remote Australia; 88% of households in our major cities have access. This falls to 82% for those living inner regional and 79% for those in outer regional and remote, or very remote, areas.</p>
<p>While two thirds of low-income households have access, 98% of the highest-income households have an internet connection. And it’s not just access that is affected by income. </p>
<p>Of the lowest-income households, 44% have a tablet in the home, compared to 76% of the highest-income households. The mean number of devices used to access the internet in the lowest-income households is four compared to seven in the highest.</p>
<p>This is important because these devices enable individuals in the household to access the internet simultaneously. Homework can be done while someone else plays games while that night’s cook looks up recipes online.</p>
<h2>Education counts</h2>
<p>The more highly educated you are, the more likely you are to be an internet user; 96% of those with a bachelor degree or higher use the internet. As educational attainment falls, this proportion decreases, down to 77% for those with Year 12 or below.</p>
<p>Internet use by employed Australians is 93%; for unemployed only 70%.</p>
<p>Age is still a key factor in internet use. Just over a half of Australians aged 65 or over use the internet while the corresponding figure of those aged 15-17 is 98.6%. The big drop-off in use is between those aged 55-64 (81%) and those in the oldest age group.</p>
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<p>There are indications that older Australians who do use the internet are not deriving the benefits of younger users. Surprisingly, internet users aged 25-34 are twice as likely as those aged 65 or more to access health services online (32% to 16%). </p>
<p>The story is the same for regional and remote Australia. The further you get from physical health services, the less likely you are to use the internet to access online health services.</p>
<p>This pattern is repeated for formal education online. Of internet users living in a major city, 27% accessed formal education online compared to 21% living inner regional, 20% in outer regional and 17% who are remote or very remote areas.</p>
<h2>Working from home</h2>
<p>Using the internet to work from home is strongly related to income. While just under a third of employed persons living in a low-income household worked from home via the internet, 62% of those in the highest-income households teleworked.</p>
<p>The regional pattern was also interesting. Those living in major cities or in rural and remote Australia were equally likely to telework (46%) compared to 38% living in inner regional Australia and 35% in outer regional Australia.</p>
<p>Addressing the digital divide and fostering digital inclusion remains a challenging and important public policy issue in Australia. The Go Digi Project, a collaboration between Infoxchange and Australia Post, have designated 2016 the <a href="https://www.godigi.org.au/NYDI">National Year of Digital Inclusion</a>.</p>
<p>Telstra along with partners the Swinburne Institute and the Centre for Social Impact are developing the <a href="http://digitalinclusionindex.org.au/">Australian Digital Inclusion Index</a> to be launched later this year. This is an attempt to better understand who is not engaging online and how that might be remedied.</p>
<p>So there is a lot happening in this space.</p>
<p>As more and more resources shift online and connectivity becomes the norm for most Australians, the disadvantage faced by those not online or those with limited access, increases. And as faster broadband is rolled out via the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/nbn">national broadband network</a>, the relative disadvantage of those on more modest connections will increase.</p>
<p>Just as importantly, building the digital capacity of disadvantaged Australians to enable them to take full advantage of online resources remains a critical issue. We must ensure that those with the most to gain from the digital revolution are able to fully engage with the online world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55232/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scott Ewing is a lead researcher on the Australian Digital Inclusion Index funded by Telstra and the Household Broadband Project funded by Cisco.</span></em></p>Australia’s connection to the internet continues to grow but there are still 1.3 million households not online.Scott Ewing, Senior Research Fellow - The Swinburne Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/543922016-02-22T19:09:24Z2016-02-22T19:09:24ZInfographic: how fast is the NBN?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112290/original/image-20160222-25879-13xfqrh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>There has been a lot of talk about the National Broadband Network (<a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/nbn">NBN</a>) in its various guises under the Labor and now Liberal governments.</em> </p>
<p><em>But how fast really is it in its current form? How does it compare to today’s ADSL and broadband internationally? And, crucially, how long will it take to download an episode of Parks and Recreation? You’ll find the answers here.</em></p>
<hr>
<h2>Broadband before the NBN</h2>
<p>ADSL2+ is the most common broadband technology used in Australia today. ADSL2+ speeds depend on the distance from the premises to the local telephone exchange. </p>
<p>This is because imperfections in the copper wires connecting the premises to the exchange can degrade the signal. So the longer the wire, the lower the speed. </p>
<p>A typical ADSL2+ download speed in Melbourne or Sydney is around 15 Mb/s, but many housholds have much lower speeds than this. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111876/original/image-20160218-1248-pydkkj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111876/original/image-20160218-1248-pydkkj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111876/original/image-20160218-1248-pydkkj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111876/original/image-20160218-1248-pydkkj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111876/original/image-20160218-1248-pydkkj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111876/original/image-20160218-1248-pydkkj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111876/original/image-20160218-1248-pydkkj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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</figure>
<hr>
<h2>International comparison</h2>
<p>This chart shows the <a href="http://people.eng.unimelb.edu.au/rtucker/talks/files/Lecture_Tucker.pdf">average peak download speeds</a> (an indication of the upper range of speeds) reported by <a href="https://www.akamai.com/">Akamai</a> for a number of countries in 2015, when Australia’s download speeds were ranked 49th in the world. </p>
<p>The graph also shows projected download speeds in those countries in 2020 and 2025, based on continuing exponential growth of download speeds. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112092/original/image-20160219-1261-j6d2a8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112092/original/image-20160219-1261-j6d2a8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112092/original/image-20160219-1261-j6d2a8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112092/original/image-20160219-1261-j6d2a8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112092/original/image-20160219-1261-j6d2a8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=718&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112092/original/image-20160219-1261-j6d2a8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=718&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112092/original/image-20160219-1261-j6d2a8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=718&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<h2>Speed comparison</h2>
<p>The wired part of the NBN will have three components: </p>
<ul>
<li>Fibre-to-the-node (FTTN)</li>
<li>Fibre to the premises (FTTP) and </li>
<li>Hybrid fibre coax (HFC) networks, which are upgraded version of the existing Telstra and Optus services. </li>
</ul>
<p>FTTN will provide download speeds of 50 Mb/s to 100 Mb/s, and like ASDL, the speed will depend on the distance between the premises and the nearest node in the street. It will not be possible to upgrade FTTN services to higher speeds. </p>
<p>Premises connected to the FTTP and HFC networks will be able to download at at least 100 Mb/s, upgradeable to 1,000 Mb/s (i.e. 1 gigabit per second or Gb/s) and even 10,000 Mb/s (i.e. 10 Gb/s) in the future.</p>
<p>This animation gives an idea of the different download speeds of ADSL, FTTN, and FTTP in 2016, 2021 and 2026, based on expected technology improvements. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110910/original/image-20160210-3274-1pew6qt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110910/original/image-20160210-3274-1pew6qt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=32&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110910/original/image-20160210-3274-1pew6qt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=32&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110910/original/image-20160210-3274-1pew6qt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=32&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110910/original/image-20160210-3274-1pew6qt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=40&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110910/original/image-20160210-3274-1pew6qt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=40&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110910/original/image-20160210-3274-1pew6qt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=40&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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</figure>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-242" class="tc-infographic" height="860" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/242/7b676b29f5f42577ebd58bf1a4fde2377d4ca0df/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<hr>
<h2>Bandwidth capacity</h2>
<p>The speed of a broadband connection is not just about download speeds, but also the capacity for multiple streams through a single connection.</p>
<p>For example, a typical ADSL2+ connection could handle up to three <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_television">high-definition</a> (HD, or 1,920 × 1,080) video streams simultaneously.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112093/original/image-20160219-1240-pd45is.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112093/original/image-20160219-1240-pd45is.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=268&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112093/original/image-20160219-1240-pd45is.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=268&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112093/original/image-20160219-1240-pd45is.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=268&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112093/original/image-20160219-1240-pd45is.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112093/original/image-20160219-1240-pd45is.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112093/original/image-20160219-1240-pd45is.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>Faster connection will be able to handle more simultaneous streams and at higher resolutions.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112094/original/image-20160219-1264-fqkgf3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112094/original/image-20160219-1264-fqkgf3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112094/original/image-20160219-1264-fqkgf3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112094/original/image-20160219-1264-fqkgf3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112094/original/image-20160219-1264-fqkgf3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112094/original/image-20160219-1264-fqkgf3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112094/original/image-20160219-1264-fqkgf3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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</figure>
<hr>
<h2>What your future household will require</h2>
<p>This graphic shows the download requirements of a typical household in 2020 and 2025. </p>
<p>By then, 4K <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-definition_television">ultra-high-definition</a> (3,840 x 2,160) video streaming will be common, and 4K TVs will be readily available. By 2020, a typical Australian home will have two of these devices. </p>
<p>In 2025, 8K (7,680 x 4,320) TVs will be readily available and there could well be an 8k TV in every home as well as two or three 4k TVs. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111887/original/image-20160218-1269-1tt956q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111887/original/image-20160218-1269-1tt956q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111887/original/image-20160218-1269-1tt956q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111887/original/image-20160218-1269-1tt956q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111887/original/image-20160218-1269-1tt956q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1255&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111887/original/image-20160218-1269-1tt956q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1255&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111887/original/image-20160218-1269-1tt956q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1255&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54392/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rod Tucker has received funding from the ARC and a number of telecommunications companies. He was a member of the Panel of Experts that advised the Labor Government on the establishment of the original FTTP-based NBN.</span></em></p>How fast is the NBN in its current form? Is it really that much faster than ADSL? And, crucially, how long will it take to download an episode of Parks and Recreation? You’ll find the answers here.Rod Tucker, Laureate Emeritus Professor, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/515622015-12-01T03:26:52Z2015-12-01T03:26:52ZWhat will the NBN really cost?<p>Cost is a central issue in the ongoing debate about the best approach to building Australia’s National Broadband Network (<a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/nbn">NBN</a>).</p>
<p>In 2013, the Coalition argued that Labor’s original all-fibre to the premises (FTTP) network could cost as much as A$94 billion. In the <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/corporate-information/about-nbn-co/corporate-plan/corporate-plan.html">2016 NBN Corporate plan</a> the figure was revised down to A$74 billion to A$84 billion, while NBN Co’s multi technology mix (MTM), incorporating fibre to the node (FTTN) and upgraded hybrid fibre coax (HFC) was less costly, with a price tag of A$46 billion to A$56 billion.</p>
<p>Since the Coalition announced these numbers, Labor has said that, if elected, it will not go back to an all-FTTP network, but instead pursue a half-way option, in which the HFC component of the MTM is retained but FTTN, the slowest and most limited technology, is phased out.</p>
<p>It’s worth looking more closely at cost difference between FTTP and FTTN to see if the claimed A$84 billion to A$56 billion maximum cost comparison stacks up, and see where Labor’s new half-way solution sits.</p>
<h2>Capital costs</h2>
<p>The NBN 2016 Corporate Plan states that the average capital cost (capex) to connect a home or business to the NBN using FTTP is A$3,700. But the real cost for a FTTP connection is probably less than this.</p>
<p>The A$3,700 figure quoted by nbn co is based on old construction techniques that have been superseded in other parts of the world. The costs of rolling-out FTTP in New Zealand, for example, have been dropping steadily in recent years and will soon be <a href="http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2015/9/18/technology/how-much-do-fttp-nbn-connections-really-cost">A$2,900 per premises</a>. For some reason, NBN Co has yet to acknowledge the lessons learned in New Zealand.</p>
<p>Let’s give NBN Co the benefit of the doubt and assume that the A$3,700 cost per premises for FTTP is correct. In comparison, the 2016 Corporate Plan states that the average capital cost for a FTTN connection is A$1,600, or A$2,100 less than FTTP.</p>
<p>For an upgraded hybrid-fibre-coax (HFC) connection the capital cost is A$1,100, or A$2,600 less. However, in light of recent revelations in a <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/291057120/Leaked-NBN-document">leaked document</a> from NBN Co published by Fairfax indicating that it may be necessary to overbuild Optus’ HFC network, the savings offered by HFC will not be as good.</p>
<p>Using these numbers, it is easy to compare the capital costs of different networks.</p>
<p>At the end of construction, the MTM network will provide FTTN to 4.5 million premises and HFC to 4 million premises. Labor’s new approach is to replace as many as possible of these 4.5 million FTTN connections by FTTP. The maximum additional capital cost to do this would be 4.5 million times A$2,100, or A$9.5 billion. This figure corresponds to A$790 per premises averaged across all 12 million premises in Australia. </p>
<p>An all-FTTP network could be achieved by also replacing the HFC connections with FTTP. The total additional capital cost of this hypothetical all-FTTP network would be A$19.9 billion, or A$1,658 per premises averaged across all premises.</p>
<h2>Peak funding</h2>
<p>Of course, it is necessary to also consider operational expenditure (opex) – the cost of running the network – and revenues from the network. These factors all contribute to the peak funding figures in the 2016 Corporate Plan.</p>
<p>Peak funding is the maximum cash outlay required before cash flow becomes positive. Peak funding is a useful measure of cost because it is a direct measure of the cash outlay required. But it is not necessarily a good measure of the cost of the network infrastructure or a good measure of the net financial cost/benefit to the Australian taxpayer.</p>
<p>Operational expenditure is a major issue for the MTM network because of factors including the need for new software management systems, the additional costs of maintaining the degrading copper wires in the FTTN network, and the cost of the electricity required to power the FTTN nodes located in suburban streets. Importantly, an FTTP network would incur none of these costs.</p>
<p>In fact, the leaked nbn co document mentioned earlier shows that the operational costs of FTTN network are 67% more than for FTTP, and the operational costs of HFC are 25% more. Over the lifetime of the network, this difference could amount to billions of dollars, greatly reducing the overall difference in costs between FTTN and FTTP.</p>
<p>Another factor that reduces the cost difference between the Coalition’s network and Labor’s new alternative is that a Labor’s FTTP/HFC network would be capable of generating higher revenues through the delivery of premium services that would not be achievable with a slower-speed FTTN network.</p>
<p>This is well documented by high-profile companies such as Ovum, which predicts FTTP services will drive the <a href="https://www.chorus.co.nz/broadband-research/global-gigabit-wars-getting-hooked-on-speed">highest global growth rates</a> for broadband revenues over the next five years, based on premium speeds of 100 Mbps and higher.</p>
<h2>Timeframes</h2>
<p>In light of all these factors, why is NBN Co’s cost estimate for a hypothetical FTTP network so large? The NBN Corporate plan provides no detailed information on its financial modelling, but it states that an all-FTTP network would take until 2026 to 2028 to complete.</p>
<p>If the timeframe was indeed as long as this, the revenue stream would be delayed. This could indeed lead to unrealistically large numbers for the peak funding cost of FTTP.</p>
<p>So where does the 2026 to 2028 timeframe come from? My guess is that NBN Co has simply extrapolated from the present rollout rate for FTTP, which has not increased much since 2013. One piece of supporting information comes from a <a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/estimate/8d7d16c9-13a8-4b9e-bc05-dc72e5f27c55/toc_pdf/Environment%20and%20Communications%20Legislation%20Committee_2015_10_20_3909.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf">Senate Estimates meeting</a>, where NBN Co confirmed that its A$74-84 billion number was not for a “continued” FTTP network but for a “restart” from the current plan. </p>
<p>NBN Co waited until September this year to hire additional staff, increasing the number of employees from 3,400 to 4,500 to speed up the rollout of FTTN. If it had hired these additional staff in 2013 and focused on the FTTP rollout, the network could well have been completed by around 2020 or 2021.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/51562/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rod Tucker has received funding from the ARC and a number of telecommunications companies. He was a member of the Panel of Experts that advised the Labor Government on the establishment of the original FTTP-based NBN. </span></em></p>There are competing estimates of the cost of the National Broadband Network, but new data from broadband rollouts overseas can give us a clearer picture of the true cost in Australia.Rod Tucker, Laureate Emeritus Professor, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.