NBN Flux: Inflexion Point

I have worked in the IT industry in Australia – (in one form or another) – for almost 20 years. My history of tinkering and mucking around with computers goes back more than 30 years.

So it is fair to say that I have seen quite a bit of weird, wonderful and outright “batshit annoying” occurrences over the journey.

A large chunk of my IT history has been directly in the telecommunications space, and most of the “batshit annoying” stuff I have seen over the years falls neatly into this space.

Broadband in Australia is currently at a critical inflexion point, as the “final” form of the National Broadband Network (NBN) falls into place.

Now is the time for the right decisions to be made, and I fear – (like many other people) – that many of the decisions currently being made, are being made for political purposes, rather than for the future and common good of this country.

Today I am beginning a series of articles on the NBN – where it has come from, what it is, what it is becoming, and where it should be going.

Some will accuse me of having “left” leanings, as I will continue to support the full FTTP model developed by the previous Labor government, but I am anything but what is usually termed a “leftie”.

That said, I am not a “righty” either. My political beliefs are quite “centre”. I certainly believe that it is possible for good policies to come from either side of that centre line.

I am not naive or short-sighted enough to believe that only one side of the political divide can come up with good ideas, like many people seem to believe.

It just isn’t so.

I will be writing these articles from the perspective of my experience in the industry – what I have seen, what I know doesn’t work, what I know does work, and what I want for the future.

What I want my children to be able to do.

I don’t want to see that stifled by a political point-scoring exercise, as is happening at the moment.

First up, I will begin with a discussion on why we even need an NBN.

ARTICLES IN THE SERIES: