In the wake of AFP raids at Labor senator Stephen Conroy’s house over the leaked documents showing cost-blow outs to the National Broadband Network (NBN), Australia’s most expensive infrastructure project has again been thrust into the headlines.
Both major parties are yet to address the rollout delays and slow connection speed, despite Australia continuing to fall in global internet speed ranking.
According to The ‘State of the Internet’ report, produced by online content delivery specialist Akamai Technologies every quarter, Australia slipped 14 spots in the past six months, and now sits at a global ranking of 60th, behind fibre-rich countries such as South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan.
Shadow Communications Minister Jason Clare responded to this drop in ranking, sighting the course change of the NBN after Malcolm Turnbull came into power.
“Malcolm Turnbull promised that his second rate NBN would reach every home in 2016 – he has doubled that timeframe. He also promised his second rate NBN would cost $29.5 billion – he has nearly doubled the cost to up to $56 billion,” Mr Clare said.
Although Labor’s initiative features faster connection times, UOW Liberal club leader, Sam Tedeschi said it’s nothing more than a fantasy.
“[Labor] never hit one of their targets during their time in office and costs were blowing out – during their term in government they delivered the NBN to around 55,000 homes, under the Liberals almost one million homes are now connected to the NBN,” he said.
The Turnbull government is committed to living within its means, and reducing waste and inefficiencies in government spending. Fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) is more effective at delivering high-speed broadband and sets the foundation from which we can further expand.”
The Australian Bureau of Statistics found households connected to the Internet increased to 7.7 million in 2014-15, it is projected the number will rise over the next 10 years.
The NBN rollout is predicted to create over 10,000 jobs Australia-wide – good news for UOW IT Graduates who number some of the largest in the state.