NBN a $50 billion White Elephant

I am watching ABC Q&A right now and they are speaking about NBN and the fact it cost $50 billion which is an outrageous price.  I met the guy who designed the NBN in 2017.  I house sat for him, I laugh.

I often wander around and see the big thick NBN connections and I am not comfortable with the collection of data through the NBN.  From the perspective of Australian citizens funding it and the NBN Limited (company) paid to roll it out, I think we are paying for our own enslavement through and others will profit from us paying for the NBN services.  It seems a trend where the government pays for expensive infrastructure and the private sector benefits, but the people do not own it or get it for free, which one would think at a $50 billion price tag.

Here is some information on the NBN.

The 5G is of greater concern given it is untested and there is contention it is harzardous to health.

I do not agree an internet service is a must. I think it is slowly destroying community and creating vulnerabilities through all services online and major issues of privacy and surveillance.

NBN: A $50 billion white elephant

NBN: A $50 billion white elephant

By Leith van Onselen

ACCC head, Rob Sims, has hit out at the $50 billion National Broadband Network (NBN), claiming that many households are paying more for worse internet. From The Australian:

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission boss Rod Sims yesterday warned NBN Co was failing to deliver on its promise of faster and affordable broadband…

“We are quite possibly charting a course that favours meeting NBN Co’s revenue projections at the expense of the NBN’s potential to benefit the economy and consumers,” Mr Sims said.

“We are now observing prices of low-speed NBN plans offered to new customers that are at least $10 per month higher than what consumers paid for equivalent plans on the ADSL network.”

NBN wholesale prices for the 12-megabit plan will increase from $12.75 to $17.50 a megabit per second, but many consumers are already paying more for basic NBN plans than existing ADSL services.

Optus CEO Allen Lew has also slammed the NBN’s quality and believes mobile phone providers should be allowed to replace the NBN’s fibre-to-the-node technology with ultra-fast 5G fixed-wireless broadband, claiming this would be less expensive than NBN Co having to install fibre-optic cables in literally millions of homes.  From The AFR:

Mr Lew said the NBN was “falling short of customer’s current expectations around speed, reliability and service performance”.

“We also must look beyond our shores to what is being done globally and ask ourselves whether we are keeping pace with other developed countries that are heading towards affordable, gigabit services,” he said.

I’ve got no idea what the answer is, but delivering Australians a competitive and reliable internet service is a must. We shouldn’t be charged some of the highest user fees in the world for a sub-standard service.

Add the NBN to the long list of policy failures worthy of a Royal Commission!

Mohandas Gandhi

“Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.”

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