Budget gives NBN $4.7B kick-start, but what for?

By Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 12 May 2009 15:54

Strategy

Communications minister, Stephen Conroy says that, under the federal budget, the Government is making an initial investment of $4.7b in the National Broadband Network, but has given no indication of how that money will be spent.

$4.7b was the figure put on the total cost of the earlier failed NBN plan that would have rolled out fibre to the node to the great majority of Australian premises. It has now been replaced with plans of an FTTP network at an order of magnitude greater cost.

“The Government regards the National Broadband Network as a priority investment in infrastructure for Australia’s future, and is working to implement this initiative quickly and thoroughly,” Conroy said. "The Budget re-affirms the Australian Government’s commitment to progressing the establishment of a wholesale-only, open access National Broadband Network, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy."

He then went on to list initiatives undertaken since the 7 April announcement of the $43B NBN plan. "The national broadband network company has been established; negotiations have occurred with the Tasmanian Government to commence an early rollout of a FTTP network and next generation wireless service in Tasmania as early as July 2009; formal consultation has been undertaken with stakeholders on priority broadband blackspots; work has started on an implementation study which will report to the Government in early 2010 on the operating arrangements for the national broadband network company; consultation has started on legislative amendments to implement the commitment to require greenfield developments to use FTTP technology from 1 July 2010; and consultation has started on legislative reforms to make the existing regulatory framework work more effectively."


"The company established by the Government will invest up to $43 billion over eight years to build the National Broadband Network, but significant private sector investment is also anticipated...The Government is making an initial investment in the network of $4.7 billion,” Conroy said.
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