Launceston, TAS, 15 September 2014– Digital Tasmania today condemned the Federal Government announcement, by proxy, that the National Broadband Network (NBN) rollout in Tasmania would not continue with Fibre-to-the-Premises as promised prior to the last election. Instead, NBNCo CEO Bill Morrow has overnight advised Tasmanians of the decision in lieu of any government member being willing to put their name or face to the announcement.
Spokesperson Andrew Connor said: “The fact that the government needs their $3-million dollar man to break the bad news to Tasmanians demonstrates that they lack the fortitude to make this announcement which amounts to a backflip. The Communications Minister has not even visited Tasmania since the election 12 months ago”.
Mr Connor continued, “Before the last election Tasmanians were promised, as clear as day, that the NBN rollout would continue as planned, with fibre to the premises for most households and businesses. Since then every element of the government’s NBN promises have been systematically eroded and broken”.
Instead of Fibre-to-the-Premises for most, Tasmanian homes and businesses will now face a lottery as to whether they get future-proofed communications via Fibre or inferior services using last century’s copper technology. Customers will have the option to pay extra for fibre optic to be delivered to their door. A process that involves almost as much work to connect 1 house as the whole street and could cost individuals thousands of dollars.
Mr Connor said, “Elsewhere in the world, it is only incumbent telcos relying on copper-based services, the rest are moving ahead with fibre-optic services that allow for far more future potential and reliability. In Australia this federal government have introduced a lottery otherwise known as a ‘Multi-Mix-Technology rollout’”.
The recent NBN ‘Cost-Benefit Analysis’ commissioned by the Communications Minister to give support his Multi-Mix-Technology rollout after-the-fact relies on some questionable statistics. Mr Connor said “Turnbull’s NBN CBA believes that by 2023 Australian households will only need 15 megabit connections, already in 2014 Australian households have average speeds of 16 megabits and those using the NBN have overwhelmingly subscribed to plans of 25 megabits or more”.
Additionally Tasmanians NBN completion date has been pushed back to match the national rollout of 2020, a full 5 years behind the previous NBN rollout target in Tasmania. Mr Connor said “This kills any prospect of Tasmania’s advantage to be the first and probably only state to have widespread fibre optic coverage”.
The Tasmanian State Government has also been silent on technology matters recently. Mr Connor said, “The State Government has been missing in action on the NBN and in the recent state budget, ignored a request from a company building a fibre optic backhaul cable past Tasmania to connect into it.” The Sub Partners cable from Sydney to Perth in the waters off Tasmania would provide a fantastic opportunity to get a 4th backhaul cable out of the state at a bargain price.
Mr Connor concluded “A mainly fibre optic NBN rollout is supported by the public, industry, technologists and economists as the best long term communications solution for Australia. For the government to change course now for an inferior rollout, that’ll deliver slightly better services than at present and only slightly sooner than fibre is short-sighted”.
About Digital Tasmania:
Digital Tasmania is a consumer action group, created in 2008 to give a voice to the views and needs of Tasmanian consumers in the digital age.
