Sunday, August 22, 2010

Australia's NBN Hangs in the Balance

The fate of Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN), which has been described as the nation's largest infrastructure project, remains uncertain following the nearly tied election, writes columnist Adam Turner in Monday's Sydney Morning Herald.


As the author explains, the Labor party seeks to push ahead with the $43 billion national fibre rollout, designed to offer at least 100 Mbps to at least 90 percent of Australian homes. It would do so while also requiring ISP-level Internet filtering. On the other hand, the Liberals prefer a plan to invest $6 billion and relying mainly on wireless to deliver at least 12 Mbps to at least 90 percent of Australian homes. Meanwhile, the Greens prefer the fibre rollout but without ISP-level filtering. Politics will now run its course.
http://www.smh.com.au