Hangout with Turnbull and Conroy on ZDNet
Summary: On May 6, between 9:30 and 10:30am AEST, OurSay and ZDNet will host a Google Hangout with Australia's Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Here's your chance to ask all your NBN questions.
OurSay and ZDNet have partnered to bring you a communications debate between Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull on May 6, where the questions will be determined by public voting through OurSay's website.
OurSay is taking questions for the politicians on its site from today until 7pm AEST, Thursday, May 2. Those that make it to the top three questions as voted by the public will then get the chance to put their questions directly to Conroy and Turnbull in a live debate on Google Hangout between 9:30am and 10:30am AEST on May 6, moderated by ZDNet journalist Josh Taylor.
There are now two very distinct policies on the table, and it is clear that the biggest issue dividing the two politicians now is the National Broadband Network (NBN) rollout.
The Coalition's policy, unveiled earlier this month, would see the fibre-to-the-premises rollout scaled back to a fibre-to-the-node network in most places. Turnbull is promising minimum download speeds of 25Mbps to all premises by the end of 2016, and 50Mbps by the end of 2019. Conversely, NBN Co has just announced 1Gbps services to be online by the end of this year, but the network is not scheduled to be available to everyone until mid-2021.
Questions remain over whether the copper network will be able to achieve those promised speeds under Turnbull's plan, while lengthy delays in construction of the NBN cast doubt over the project's ability to be completed on time and on budget.
Now is your chance to get the most burning questions you have for these politicians to them yourself.
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Talkback
rollout timing
Of course
Lets face it the LNP's masters flagship printed this.
Years later, only 16pc want the NBN
by: Annabel Hepworth
From: The Australian
April 24, 2013 12:00AM
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/in-depth/years-later-only-16pc-want-the-nbn/story-e6frgaif-1226627399216
Many are time poor and just read the headline.
Compared with
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/340663,nbn-cos-take-up-by-the-numbers.aspx/0
Upload Speeds
From what I have read from the Coalition plan there will be little to no increase in upload speeds... to me this makes the entire endeavour of upgrading Australia's infrastructure pointless and frankly would make it the much touted white elephant in the room.
Increased upload speeds are one of the things myself and my clients have been begging for as an outcome from the NBN. We want to be able to transmit vast amounts of data / voice / video between sites / home / cloud / mobile devices etc how ever will this kind of thing be possible under a Coalition NBN?
If we are talking about the Abbott plan there is an obvious reason for that...
"From what I have read from the Coalition plan there will be little to no increase in upload speeds..."
Indeed. That is the big glaring problem with the coalition faudband plan, it's so embarrassing and meagre they forgot to mention it in their PDF. Make no mistake the coalition clowns and especially Abbott regard the internet as a broadcast 'consume' network rather than a proper productivity network. I see no reason to take their plan seriously. It is a $30+ billion dollar taxpayer waste and very irresponsible considering the inevitable poor performance that will arise.
"how ever will this kind of thing be possible under a Coalition NBN?"
Not really. They will claim you'll be able to do all those things on the Abbott network what they wont mention is how impractical it'll be, just like it is now.
Considering
1) At what point is that considered completed.
2) How will infrastructure competition work in brownfields considering Telstra owns the Pits/Ducts/Pipes and the NBN has paid Billions to lease them and they are being remediated for the NBN as part of that contract. Considering there is no restrictions on wireless offerings of any type at this time. Business areas are generally already served with expensive offerings as expensive to run the fibre unless you have access to Telstra's underground infrastructure which would be a fault and maintenance nightmare.
3) Most smaller Rural Communities and Black spots do not have adequate backhaul for broadband, so FTTN would be pointless unless the adequate fibre backhaul is run many many kilometers.
4) Once Privatised GIMPCo (Was once NBNCo) will have it's own more expensive funding issues and more rapid ROI and dividend requirements, so what guarantee that there will be any upgrades beyond the 25Mb VDSL and the maintenance and fault rectification will be adequate. Trust in the ACCC is diminishing, look at the supermarkets moving in and crushing competituion then upping prices, the anti competitive crippling 121 POI's, the recent approval for Telstra to increase their backhaul charges, Exetel forced to increase prices as their backhaul provider to those POI's has upped charges.
5) The investigations and CBA's they promise, will they publish their criteria and parameters for open discussion and negotiation prior to being enacted. IMO essential for any Government with even a hint of integrity and honesty
Malcolm...on another subject
More insights into NBNCo disfunction
...
"The first step I have taken to improve transparency is to ensure the company submitted clear, concise operational and financial metrics to the parliamentary joint committee on April 19. NBN Co should welcome scruitiny and will continue to be more transparent than in the past."
...
The Weekend Australian understands Ms McKenna insisted as a condition of taking on the chairmanship that Senator Conroy no longer be allowed to communicate directly with NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley."
http://m.theaustralian.com.au/story-e6frgaif-1226630372814
Perhaps Conroy would like to explain his direct communication with the CEO given his lack of any business history and why it took a new chairman to get actual rollout figures (not work commenced BS) given its taxpayer's money.
Then more:
"While the federal government is paying top dollar to roll out the scheme, the handful of major contractors it has engaged are pocketing vast sums and refusing to pass on the benefits to the mum-and-dad contractors on the ground.
...
She likened problems with subcontracting in the NBN to previous cases of government mismanagement, which included the Building the Education Revolution, which was plagued by over-charging of management fees by the major companies empowered to implement the $16.2 billion scheme, and the pink batts scheme, which was suddenly cancelled, leaving insulation installers stuck with large quantities of batts they had stockpiled in the expectation of extra work."
http://m.theaustralian.com/story-e6frgaif-1226630368996
Anyone surprised?
Q. Mr Conroy
Blah, blah, blah
Feel free to sob personal attack, ad hominem, but your unending, nonsensical attacks are laughable and frankly being so, I don't think anyone takes you seriously anymore (if they did previously).
The tower of NBNCo is collapsing, even the Board has had enough
throwing abuse from day one, hiding behind your anonymity (for as much as it lasts). Called on it you never had the guts to step up. One day it'll be known; and we'll have a great laugh at your expense.
Tragically you'll not have to pay off the debt incurred; your earning potential will have you clearly on the net receiver side of the tax/benefits ledger.
We'll also know the true waste of this inept govt soon enough; out of power their threats and abuse no longer intimidating. It'll be fascinating.
RS will finish school, as he matures he'll deny his support and that he was so easily fooled by such shallow spin. We know the truth, his fallbacks evidence of his stupidity.
Long ago you were invited to be civil and didn't, no point changing now; abuse away clown.
Dear Dick...
Err Dick, if that is so, why is it so easy for me to simply (whilst laughing out loud, of course) always prod you and get the exact reaction I was after?
Anyway... there is absolutely no point in being civil with one such as you who is "not" here to discuss the issues rationally.
Even though you claim no political allegiances, you have bagged the NBN from day 1, never giving any credit whatsoever (and let's face it, no project is 100% wrong...so???) and then when the Coalition's plan came out (keeping in mind others have already suggested you sound more like MT than MT) you even suggested it was as though they Coalition commissioned you to write their policy?
Perhaps they did, it is in comparison to the NBN utterly rank ;)
So please... come here by all means, electioneer, call those who have your measure clowns, talk your far right non-sense, but don't try to tell us you aren't here with a pre-determined agenda... Dick.
Nailed it. +1
Ah, the children are in agreement
"You claim no political allegiances" because I don't have any. You've been called out on it in the past, you have nothing.
Yes I think the NBN was badly thought out and presented a massive risk to taxpayers. I was right, so it has come to pass. The waste has been extraordinary, premises passed pathetic. Debt that will be paid by taxpayers.
"Why is it so easy for me to simply (whilst laughing out loud, of course) always prod you and get the exact reaction I was after?" You don't think I enjoy this. You were wrong. You laugh because of a post; I laugh because of everything I have you'll never obtain.
Oh Dick... prod time...
You don't know who I am or what I do, but yet because you are employed by a quaint little car counting company, you think you are superior...LOL!!!!!
No I don't think you enjoy it at all... being found out as a political stooge and all arond goose!
Indeed. More eDick waving from Fluddy, we really should have expected it sooner or later RS, coalition supporters are notorious for their insecurities. Explains why he is so defensive and apologetic when talking about the Abbott plan too.
You mean...
I think the...
Dick, do you...
Not that I'm casting aspersions on the Australian's impatiality...LOL...
But a few days after the Coalition announced their wonder 25Mpbs FttN, the Japanese announced they'd be doing 2GBPS and what did the Australian say...
"Japan blitzes NBN fibre speeds"...
ROFL...
You really need to broaden your horizons Dick :)
Not today
I read The Australian and (again with the change of editor) the AFR. Both very good papers with a significant business focus (RS would struggle to understand them).
Today The Australian is biased against Labor, during its AWB exposure biased against the coalition;-)
But true to form RS doesn't question the content, only the source. His modus operandi, what contitutes debate for his kind.