I REALLY do not understand the stupidity of stopping the FTTH rollout and installing FTTN.
All this Australia is a big place crap is bullshit, 80% live in the 8 capital cities.
The Melton, Vic, FTTH rollout showed cost and time to rollout FTTH could be halved. Doesn’t matter what savings FTTN made, the copper has to be ripped up and replaced by FTTH at some point. And they REALLY wanted NO MORE FIBRE to e rolled out:
Parakeelia millions! @PolAnimalAus 4 Jun 2015 More
NBN co is rolling out NEW COPPER on Bridie Is! Copper! FFS! Party political of course—they start pulling fibre where Cu is crap be all FTTH!
Developers of new greenfield sites were encouraged to roll out copper and it was slightly cheaper to do that—less electronics in each dwelling.
Latest purchase by NBN Co was 21,000 kilometres of new thick German copper.
While they couldn’t get rid of the Fibre on Demand program (mostly councils negotiating to get FTTH for their area instead of FTTN which was going to be run out in communities of under 1000 dwellings they renamed it to Technology Switch and charged $600 just for a quote and the work was charged just to the person asking for the quote even if other people on the path of the fibre elected to be connected to that fibre.
One result is that the Connectivity Virtual Signal, meant to ensure early returns under FTTH, could not be phased out as it would have been with FTTH. So the copper rubbish costs too much for NBN Co to make much revenue—the FTTH part of the NBN really is underpinning the FTTN/HFC rubbish. So, as I have stated above, people will be, basically, forced to pay more for a very unsatisfactory service. More and more will elect to go wireless, further hitting NBN Co revenues.
The ACCC listened to the special pleading by the owners of backhaul and mandated 121 Points of Interconnect in place of the 14 plus some rural POIs. Small ISPs gave up, Adam Internet, beloved by its customers, let itself be bought out by a bigger ISP that in turn let itself be taken over by yet another, bigger, foreign owned ISP. None of this was in the interest of the citizens struggling with totally inadequate internet.
Small to medium businesses were put on FTTN! The process took weeks and months while these businesses had no phone or internet. Way to go to boost investment and jobs, you idiots! These businesses would all be on wireless internet by now or have 4G backup to the cobbled together crap that is FTTN.
People like Pinky should have been left on ADSL or put onto FTTH but they don’t want to roll out ANY fibre!
Such a great pity Labor did not win the 2016 election, the FTTN nonsense could have been halted. By next election, most of it will be run out and what appetite will there be to rip it up and replace FTTN/K/HFC with FTTH? There is no policy now to rip up FTTN and replace with FTTH and with over $500Bn gross public debt how could there be? There is a strategy that could be followed.
We have seen how keen NBN Co under the Libs was to avoid rolling out a millimeter of FTTH. Why? Obviously—the more people have FTTH the more other people want it. How to get some more FTTH rolled out?
1.1. Fibre on Demand. Drop the fee for a quote to something like $100.
1.2. Encourage others on the route of the fibre to take up FTTH and so spread the cost.
That should start getting some fibre being rolled out. Do the same with rural councils, get a copayment and rollout FTTH there. Rural councils REALLY know the value of good communications! I have read quite a few of the Hansard of the Select Committee on the NBN to know that!
Further:
2. Where possible without causing HUGE delays, change what FTTN/HFC is left to be rolled out to a FTTH rollout.
Since Labor will be in charge:
3. Appoint some hardheaded people to push the FTTH rollouts through! Back before 2013 NBN Co spent EIGHTEEN MONTHS negotiating with the NSW Lib govt about rent to be paid for the use of electricity poles to carry fibre. Idiots had the legislated power to roll it out over those polls and pay a minimum rent and they finally did so. Eighteen months wasted! Remember the asbestos that was found in the pits? NBN Co just sat there and did nothing for 18 months and then the election happened and FTTN got rolled out 2 years later. What a waste of time!
4. Labor can encourage, assist in and extend GigCity type schemes.
Get enough FTTH rolled out, rescue those like Pinky, and suddenly there will be enough demand to roll out FTTH widely again. Well, I think so and definitely HOPE so. New services, new applications—new jobs!
I had no idea.
I had no internet or landline phone. No apparent reason. After more hours on the phone I was told they'd need to do stuff on the NBN tech end.
