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back to article NBN Co lights up on mainland

Australia’s controversial national broadband network took one small step towards actual deployment with the click of a specially-constructed media-stunt red button officially activating the first mainland site in Armidale, NSW yesterday. Two years into the project, NBN Co still have some significant hurdles to clear before …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    This is awesome news...

    I watched a clip yesterday on this and it was truly inspirational, Australia is now leading the way on FTTH deployment and is future proofing our communications infrastructure in the process. The only thing the Liberal party (aka the destroyers) can do now is cry bitter tears all day long from the sidelines.

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  2. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    NBN = Not Bloody Needed

    While we still have entire regions in Aus that are cut off by flooding for weeks - and sometimes months - during the wet season, the first big infrastructure project should be flood-proofing roads. Food and other supplies need to come in and local produce needs to go out. We're talking basics here, not high speed fripperies.

    After that it should be storm-proofing the electricity network. Hanging power lines between wooden sticks in a cyclone region is beyond stupid and when there is a big cyclonic event the power network quite literally falls over. We had no power for almost four weeks after Cyclone Yasi while the poor engineers from the powercos went from one natural disaster to another in Queensland between December and March.

    A fast network connection isn't much use when homes and telco exchanges are dark but I guess faster downloads are more important to the kids of Melbourne, Sydney and the other big cities of the SE corner of Aus.

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    1. acbot
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      Boffin

      You don't understand our political system

      Roads and power lines are not funded by federal money, they are paid for with state and even local council funds. The NBN is a federal project using everyone's tax dollars to fund a project that benefits everyone.

      Maybe before you rant about things you should actually try to understand them.

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      1. Anonymous Coward
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        Grenade

        Actually, I do understand...

        ...and I know roads are partially funded by the Federal govt:

        http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201105/s3213420.htm

        If you can't figure out how to make the link work I'll quote the salient part:

        "The Federal Budget allocates $325 million to upgrade the national highway that runs from Brisbane to Cairns."

        And worse still is the fact that the Bruce Highway gets a fraction of the Pacific Highway budget, to the tune of $500k less *per kilometre*:

        http://www.news.com.au/queensland-road-funding-lags-behind-nsw/story-e6frep2f-1226040230589

        And talking of tax dollars, us fools in the bush will contribute the same amount of tax towards building the NBN as the city people will but we'll get at best 12 Mb/s wireless compared to the potential 1Gb/s fibre in the cities.

        Your turn.

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        1. acbot
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          Boffin

          Ok sure

          Your first link is saying that the Federal Government has only paid for one third of the total costs of the project (that isn't enough for you it seems). Your second link shows that the Federal Government paid almost equal amounts to NSW and QLD to fund the Pacific Highway, but your state contributed very little in ongoing costs compared the the NSW Government...

          Both your examples highlight how your problem lies with your State Government not spending enough on roads. There is no obligation for the Federal Government to pay for your roads but as you have so expertly shown, they have contributed significantly. If you want to see a lack of Federal spending on state infrastructure, come to WA.

          This is a classic strawman argument, QLD state spending on roads != Federal spending on communications.

          You're up

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        2. acbot
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          Boffin

          Some maths for you

          ..so you don't put your foot any further down your throat.

          These quotes come straight from the article you so kindly referenced.

          "the Bruce Highway got $1.4 billion in federal funding for upgrades (over 5 years)...The Pacific Highway, by comparison, received a total of $2.3 billion over five years, including $950 million from the NSW Government."

          Now I know the journalist from news.com.au was a little tricky here, but if we subtract the $950 million the NSW government contributed from the $2.3 billion figure quoted we get $1.35 billion. It seems that the Federal government actually chipped in more cash for QLD than it did from NSW. Ouch.

          Next:

          "While an average $259,000 was spent per kilometre each year on the Bruce, a whopping $540,000 a kilometre was spent on the Pacific."

          Now you claim that "500k less per kilometre" is spent in QLD. But $540,000 minus $259,000 = $281,000. It seems your maths has let you down here. If you look back to the previous quote you will note that the Federal Goverment paid more to QLD than NSW, so this shortfall must stem from your State Government.

          Sorry :(

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