The NBN – why we need it. Now!

fibre optic cables

fibre optic cablesAs I sit here and write this it’s absolutely up in the air who is going to be our political overlords, sorry, partners in democracy, tomorrow.

If the Liberals get in, we wave goodbye to the National Broadband Network – the NBN. They think it costs too much, and that we don’t need it, and that they can cobble together some yesterday technology to give us what they say we need. It’s a ‘she’ll be right’ solution.



For mine, this is beyond myopic. The NBN puts Australia in a position to be a real technological powerhouse. And don’t get caught up thinking this is only about fast internet. The thing about the NBN is that it would be brilliant for things, ideas, and businesses we haven’t even thought of yet.

It’ll give more people more access to, well, more. We would be dragged at the speed of light from away from being a broadband backwater.

The NBN is the type of forward thinking in government that we see far too little of. It’s brave, it’s smart, and it’s necessary. Worrying about the cost is ridiculous. Australia has weathered the GFC well, we’re in a good position. We can afford the NBN, now. Delaying, or scrapping it, we’re just going to have to do something like it later – and you know how much more it will cost then.

The Sydney Opera House was a budgeting disaster, yet how much tourism cash and overseas attention has it brought Australia? And more than that, it was a flashing neon sign that Australia was a country to take note of in the modern world.

The NBN was another just such a sign about Australia being forward thinking, and a people to be reckoned with.

Needless to say if wake up tomorrow and find that the NBN is lost, I’ll be extremely disappointed. We all should be. I think the only question to ask is this: is Labor’s NBN better technology than the jury-rigged solution proposed by the Liberal party? Anything else is, I think, irrelevant.

The NBN laid bare – an excellent read

That’s my rant over. Actually, the main reason for this rant was to act as an introduction to what is an excellent overview of the NBN, from Nick Ross, the ABC’s technology and games editor. Have a read of the NBN laid bare – all the main points are covered, the pros, the cons, and more than a few excellent points illustrating why having it built is a good thing. A very good thing.

The Great NBN Fail – a must read

UPDATE: Nick Ross has written another excellent article, criticising the manner in which the education regarding the NBN has been poorly executed by NBN Co, the Government and the media, and how completely wrong-headed has been the NBN opposition as spouted by the Liberal party and NBN naysayers. I recommend anyone interested in what is this country’s most important and necessary large scale project read The Great NBN Fail.

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