http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/business-chief-slams-nbn-rollout/story-e6frg6n6-1226040640114

THE first rollout of the National Broadband Network in Tasmania is a squandered opportunity and one of the worst examples of pork-barrelling, says the state's senior business leader.

Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman Troy Harper told The Australian that although the NBN was a great concept, the network's rollout in Tasmania was "a disgrace" and "madness".

Mr Harper said the initial rollout should have focused on the cities, where the take-up rate by businesses and homes would have been greatest, instead of on three small towns, including two in rural areas.

The criticism brought a swift rebuke from Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, who said people were entitled to affordable high-speed broadband services no matter where they chose to live or work.

"The NBN will deliver this, and the government is getting on with rolling it out," a spokeswoman for Senator Conroy said.

Mr Harper blamed former Tasmanian premier David Bartlett for what he saw as the failings of the initial NBN rollout.

"We've had some bad examples of pork-barrelling, but these (the rollout in the towns of Smithton, Scottsdale and Midway Point) would be some of the worst," he said.

"For a premier who was supposedly IT-savvy, it is possibly the worst betrayal a state has seen in terms of a performance from a political leader."

Mr Bartlett, who resigned as premier in late January, declined to comment, but a government spokesman distanced the state from the decision to begin with the three small towns.

"It was the NBN Co, not the Tasmanian government, that chose the three initial rollout towns, and they had control of the rollout, not the Tasmanian government," the spokesman said. "The rationale was that the initial rollout had a trial component and it was designed to identify and fix problems. It was far easier to do that in three small towns than in a rollout to the major metropolitan centres."

NBN Co defended the choice of the three towns, saying the pilot program aimed to test construction techniques and working with retail services.

"Those were pilot sites and they are a starting point," a company spokeswoman said.

She pointed out that the take-up rate for the network in Tasmania was approaching 15 per cent.

"It's not an end point," she said. "There are seven more sites that have been named for the next phase, and we hope to be making announcements soon on the start of construction on those."

Mr Harper said the NBN could have been a "really important part of Tasmania's future" and was a great opportunity for Tasmania to get connections with the mainland.

"That has been categorically squandered," he said. "It's a disgrace the way that wonderful strategy has been an absolute implementation disaster."

He said rolling the network out first to cities would have been a boon for Tasmania's key growth service-based industries and proved what benefits the networks could bring nationally.

"And everyone who took it up would be a marketing opportunity to say 'Hasn't this changed our business, what a wonderful job it's done -- we're doing business in ways we never imagined'," Mr Harper said.

For the network's initial rollout, the federal and state governments chose three towns: Smithton, a quiet rural timber area in Tasmania's northwest, Scottsdale, a timber town in the rural northeast, and Midway Point, on Hobart's eastern outskirts.

Scottsdale, population 950, and Smithton, population 1609, are in the seats of Bass and Braddon, which until last year's federal election were marginal, and support for the NBN was seen as a factor in swings to Labor. Midway Point is in less marginal Lyons, which was further shored up by Labor at last year's poll.

While politically popular in these towns, take-up rates for the high-speed internet have been low, at about 11 per cent, according to figures released by the federal government last year.

Mr Harper said targeting the stage one rollout on three small towns in key seats showed it was a "political solution".

The rollout of fibre-optic cable was proceeding incredibly slowly, the chamber chief said. "At the rate we're going . . . it would take 50 years to complete the rollout in Tasmania, and 2000 years to have the rest of the country wired."

Nice.

Now read the actual argument, not just things you can highlight, and work out what the business leaders in Tasmania think about the NBN, and how it will relate to Tasmania's economy.

sir prince duke alevine wrote on Apr 18^th, 2011 at 9:20am:




ok what part did you have in mind?

I dont understand how the NBN will relate to the economy.. perhaps you can fill me in on that.

this morning they have revisited mobil phones and cancer...and the answer coming back is YES... more and more evidence is coming in...this of course if for heavy users...however can we look forward to medical problems with computers in the future.. maybe hunchbacks..I presume the faster this gets the more time we will spend on it... and the more time they will want us to spend on it..isnt that the purpose of it?

sir prince duke alevine wrote on Apr 18^th, 2011 at 9:20am:



did you read the bit about the takeup rate approaching 15%???

what does that say to you about how popular the NBN is and how rural areas are embracing the concept?

longweekend58 wrote on Apr 18^th, 2011 at 9:47am:



As a matter of interest, what were the stats on the internet take up rate of by Tasmanian households relative to other Australian households (especially regional ones) prior to the NBN rollout down there!?

Is it not the case, that Tasmanians are generally techno-phobic relative to the rest of the Australian population!?

Equitist wrote on Apr 18^th, 2011 at 9:52am:


go away with your ridiculous grasping arguments!

sir prince duke alevine wrote on Apr 18^th, 2011 at 9:47am:





ahhh as first thought you cant explain can you??????????

yes I go back a bit with schooling and they didnt teach economics in my day... how ever no need for you to be so rude did they teach you that in 3rd grade?..


they just for once answering a question you are getting like woody.... he only abuses when he is backed in the corner...


so business men think the NBN would have had more use if it was in the cities... well thats pretty brilliant I must say...but where does it say that the economy will GROOOOOOOOOOOOW like a weed because of it?????


I have read the article...but still would like your imput... try to do it without the rudeness if thats at all possible.

cods wrote on Apr 18^th, 2011 at 10:09am:


I'm not backed into a corner, but if you haven't read an article and then try to argue something it actually explains, or likewise read it and simply can't understand, then it's not up to me to explain it to you (that won't help you either); it's up to you to go and get some lessons and develop your comprehension.