NBN design for end users should start now, says Deloitte

Stuart Corner
Thursday, 17 September 2009 11:25

IT Industry - Strategy

NBN Co is only in the early stages of designing the national broadband network, but according to Deloitte, it should already be factoring likely end user demands into its plans.

Deloitte has released a report "National Broadband Network - A user's perspective" with Damien Tampling, the firm's Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) leader, saying: "It is imperative that the people who will actually be using the NBN are considered from the beginning and not once the NBN's infrastructure has already been built, or even at the implementation study stage."

He called on to the Federal Government to "more closely identify what impact the NBN will have on specific industries and businesses to consider likely drivers of end-user demand properly," adding "The NBN is likely to bring a number of unexpected issues to the surface. As such, legislation will also be progressively required to cope with a converged digital economy where issues of privacy, service provision, access regimes, regulation, competition and security are redefined as a consequence of faster broadband speeds."

According to the report, "In the short term, the Federal Government's role as the owner of the NBN requires it to carefully and deliberately encourage sustained private sector investment in the consumer applications and the services that will drive the NBN's adoption. This planning needs to begin sooner rather than later and be heavily featured in the NBN design."
 
The Federal Government has an NBN implementation study underway. However its remit rather more limited in scope than Deloitte has called for. According to the RFP for the lead adviser of the study (a role for which a consortium formed by KPMG an McKinsey was chosen ) the study will only seek to provide input on such matters as operating and governance arrangements for NBN Co Limited, ownership caps, ways to attract private sector investment, network design and ways to provide procurement opportunities for local businesses.

This is not nearly broad enough according to Deloitte. Its report says: "The proposed implementation study will need to identify what impact the NBN will have on specific industries and businesses to properly consider the likely drivers of end-user demand such as design, pricing, return on investment and funding issues.

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