Australia - National Broadband Network - Introduction and Overview

Synopsis

Several things became clear during the privatisation process of Telstra in the 00s. Broadband quality was below the international benchmark; end-user and wholesale prices were above that mark; and there was no economically viable business case for high-speed broadband infrastructure for regional and rural Australia.

At that time both sides of government were in favour of government intervention in order to rectify this situation. Telstra, however, was determined to maintain its monopoly and in the end the government had to step in. This led to the structural separation of the company. At the same time, because of the GFC, the government decided to change its broadband infrastructure plan from a regional to a national one. They also linked that to the development of the digital economy and launched supporting policies in e-commerce, e-health, e-education and smart grid, all aimed at utilising the NBN for those purposes.

The $36 billion plan includes a government investment of $27 billion and needs to be seen in the context of the $60 billion raised by the privatisation of Telstra.

This report provides an overview of the project since its inception in 2007, as well as an insight into the steps that have been taken subsequently.

Table of Contents

• 1. Synopsis
• 2. general Overview of the plan
• 3. how australia got its nbn
• 4. Why shouldn’t we build the NBN?
• 5. NBN national infrastructure, not just telecomms
• 6. economic reforms
  • 6.1 Fundamental change to the economy
  • 6.2 People issues
  • 6.3 Business modelling - the key to success of the NBN
    • 6.3.1 Sector-based cost benefit analysis
    • 6.3.2 Infrastructure model, not telco model
    • 6.3.3 Business modelling process
    • 6.3.4 Strategic and implementation responsibilities
  • 6.4 Recommendations of the 2009 Implementation Study
• 7. Socio-economic benefits
• 8. Where is the user in all of this?
• 9. Why wireless broadband is no alternative to FttH
• 10. Related reports

• Exhibit 1 – Economic benefits of broadband – overview of surveys