The AGE argues that the national broadband network appears a massive waste of money and even a potential brake on the economy.
The Prime Minister criticised the installation of the NBN and the fact that customers have not been getting the speeds they have paid for.
The AGE argues that the inescapable conclusion is that taxpayers and consumers are paying – through undue costs and uncompetitive products – for the manifold mistakes of politicians.
When Labor was in power in 2009, it undertook to connect every household and business to a fibre optic network and set up NBN Co to run the project. The AGE says that was a huge, unnecessary bet. The paper explains that when the Coalition won government, it dumped the fibre imperative by relying on the existing copper network to deliver the final part of the connection, thus limiting any increase in network speeds.
The AGE says that Australia needs high-speed, affordable and reliable online access if it is to have an economic future. Thus, there is a powerful market-based incentive for a robust broadband network and that does not have to come from the government.
The paper points out that the NBN is not making a commercial return; it is not delivering the services clients were led to believe would come; it is costing more than forecast.
