Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Friday, 03 September 2010 16:23
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
Ovum’s research director, David Kennedy, has astutely analysed the actions of Australia’s politicians and telcommunications companies in fracturing the once-strong momentum behind a National Broadband Network, urging ‘solid policy development’ before any NBN can bloom again.
Before we get to David Kennedy's specific words, here's some of my own: If there’s one thing Australia’s warring for-and-against NBN factions could likely agree on, it’s that proper planning for all aspects of an Australian NBN was never really undertaken, despite all and sundry believing the actual underlying idea of an NBN was and remains a good one.
After all, if proper planning had been done from the start, there’d have been no confusion over whether the NBN project would cost $43b, or really only $26b, or perhaps closer to $100b.
With the media always using the “headline” figure of $43b, despite much lower figures announced by NBN Co, the company set up by the federal government to roll out the NBN over a multi-year period, it wasn’t only politicians and telcos that seemed confused, but Australians too – the people actually doing the final voting.
Now we are stuck, at least temporarily, not knowing which side of politics will be running the show for the next three years, but also without knowing just what kind of NBN we’ll all end up with, and when.
So, it was quite interesting to receive Ovum’s latest commentary on the NBN, with its research director, David Kennedy, specifically discussing the fracturing of consensus over the NBN in Australia.
In his commentary, Kennedy starts by noting how the NBN, as the governing Labor party envisioned it, seemed destined to be implemented as promised with an “almost certain” re-election of the Labor party.
The resulting hung parliament, however, means that the “NBN project, closely identified with Labor, is now under serious threat.”
Kennedy continues, saying that: “The NBN was a political "football" during the campaign, with Labor criticizing the coalition for a lack of vision and the coalition proposing a much cheaper wireless-based alternative. During the campaign, the telecommunications industry seemed firmly behind Labor’s plan. The earlier doubts about the cost of the project had been put to one side; the likelihood of a Labor victory made the NBN a fait accompli.”
Kennedy’s NBN conundrum continues on page two… please read on!
