There’s been a lot of debate and controversy since yesterday’s federal government announcement in regards to the National Broadband Network (NBN).
The doomsayers would have you believe that this is a massive white elephant, and that we should not be paying so much for potentially 100Mb connections to the home. The bottom line is, you don’t have to have a full 100Mb, and there is a great deal more you can do with this connection than just internet.
A network like this has a lot of potential. Basic telephony without relying on Telstra. Subscription services for things like downloadable movies or pay-tv. Interactive television. Interactive education services in the home. In-the-home medical services. The list could go on and on and on, with as many ideas as people can come up with that require connectivity between two parties.
Before people assign this thing to the scrap heap, saying it will be obsolete before it is completed, I say try learning a little about the possibilities, before kicking this around as a political football. This has the potential, if done correctly, to transform the Australian economy.