Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Wednesday, 03 September 2008 21:41
IT Industry -
Strategy
Page 1 of 2
If you thought the National Broadband Network (NBN) might actually
start construction in 2008, the newly disclosed “closing date for the
submission of proposals” makes it highly unlikely.
Unless officials from the Department of Communications and its Minister, Senator Stephen Conroy, decide they absolutely must deliver a decision this year, the NBN proposal submission
closure date of the 26th of November 2008 seems to suggest actual construction work on any NBN will be delayed until 2009.
Given that previously released figures suggest the NBN will be complete within 5 years, 2014 could well be the “out-of”-date Australians will have to wait until before the network is available to essentially everyone.
As you’d imagine, Senator Conroy painted the announcement in positive terms, saying:
“This is a major step forward in the Government's comprehensive plan to provide Australians with higher speed broadband services”.
Conroy continued, noting that: "The National Broadband Network is part of the Rudd Governments plan to drive investment in critical infrastructure and ensure that Australia takes advantage of the many opportunities presented by the digital economy."
Although the Federal Australian government started its “Request for Proposals” process on the 11th of April, 2008, the closure date has been pushed back more than once to ensure all tenderers get fair access to current Australian network information to enable competitive and accurate bids to be placed.
The Senator explained in a statement that: “The closing time has been amended to account for time taken by the Government to necessarily work with carriers to ensure that proponents have access to information about existing networks and time to consider it. The intention is that this will help them prepare robust, competitive proposals,” thanks to a 12 week period that has now officially started.
Continued on page 2.
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