Here's an idea: instead of the $AU10 million worth of reviews designed to pursue an ideological crusade against the National Broadband Network, communications minister Malcolm Turnbull could instead get to work on fixing the creaking competition mechanisms of Australia's telecommunications industry. It won't happen, of course …

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Tuesday 27th May 2014 01:40 GMT dan1980

Sad, but all-too-predictable

I'm glad someone else sees the Coalition's stance on the NBN for what it is - an ideological statement.

It's my opinion that they would much rather there be no NBN whatsoever but, clearly, with the announcements already made and homes already connected, they couldn't just run on a platform of scrapping it all.

Right now, I kind of wish they had scrapped it, so that when the ALP got back in they could start it up again properly.

I suspect that the Government is doing it's darndest in this area to make sure that their changes are very hard and/or expensive to fix, preventing Labor getting it back on track when they get back in. A sort of 'if we can't have our way (no NBN) then we'll make damned sure you can't have your way either!'.

Actually, I think that's probably their goal in a lot of areas based on this budget. Abbott ran on a platform of essentially promising the people of Australia he wasn't going to do all those things that had kept him un-electable in the past. So the people elect him and he promptly starts doing all those things he promised not to do and not doing all the things he promised he would.

Sorry, that was a bit of a diversion. (Only a bit, though . . . )

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Tuesday 27th May 2014 02:57 GMT Fluffy Bunny

But NBN is designed to be a monopoly

"Malcolm Turnbull could instead get to work on fixing the creaking competition mechanisms of Australia's telecommunications industry"

But the NBN is designed to be a monopoly. How on Earth do you expect Malcolm to fix the "creaking competition mechanisms" while the NBN remains on the planet.

Yes, we all like to get free stuff. And at the prices the NBN is charging for connection in this trial period, this is as close to free as you can get. Fifty billion is being put into this boondogle and nobody is being charged anything close to the real market rate for the service they are being connected to.

But you are forgetting that this is taxpayer's money. And as the party in charge changes, they see new priorities for that money. Now that NBN Co has been told to prepare itself to be sold in 2017, you will see a few changes. The free ride is going to end. No more taxpayer's money subsidising the nearly free connection. You will have to pay full market rate for your connection. And you can't go back to copper, because the NBN is razing the trenches (as it were) to prevent anybody from using it again.

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1. Tuesday 27th May 2014 05:16 GMT Anonymous Coward
  
  Re: But NBN is designed to be a monopoly
  
  Wrong.
  
  It's designed to be a utility like power, water, and gas.
  
  It'll then be sold to a consortium, equity partners, or floated, with the stipulations that they *not* run a competing retail arm. The sale designed to recoup the funds used so far.
  
  Basically what the Liberals were supposed to do to Telstra Wholesale until LNP buddy Ziggy worked his magic...
  
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Tuesday 27th May 2014 03:49 GMT rtb61

The LNP stance on the NBN is not ideological it is profit based and comes under direct orders from Rupert Murdoch and News Corporations who got the LNP elected.

Kill the NBN and hand over what left of the carcase to News corporation, blatant in your face corruption.

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