NBN key to Greens’ Labor support

By Liz Tay on Jul 22, 2010 2:18 PM
Filed under Telco/ISP

Ludlam slams Liberal’s telco “wrecking tactics”.

The Australian Greens have rehashed hopes of a publicly owned National Broadband Network (NBN) in a statement of support for the incumbent Labor Party (ALP).

On Monday, the parties were understood to have struck a preference deal involving more than 50 seats in the House of Representatives.

The Greens were expected to direct its Lower House preferences to Labor, which would direct its Senate preferences to the Greens in return.

Greens Senator Scott Ludlam today said the party would "continue to work constructively with the Government if the ALP is returned".

"The Opposition's wrecking tactics in the telco sector have gone far enough," he said. "With the in-principle agreement signed between Telstra and the Commonwealth, Tony Abbott no longer has a constituency for blocking, delaying and avoiding reforms."

However, Ludlam remained opposed to Labor's long-term goal of privatising NBN Co.

He expected the ALP to be more receptive to the idea of a publicly owned NBN under Julia Gillard's leadership, telling iTnews last month: "Privatisation of NBNCo, in my understanding, was a particular preference of the Prime Minister [Kevin Rudd]."

"The NBN should absolutely stay in public hands so that we don't see another repeat of the debacle that followed the privatisation of Telstra," Ludlam said today.

16 comments in this discussion

"Wakie is right, Digger11 is either an exceptional forum troll or a massive moron. For those who do not understand (why you are here is fairly questionable) the copper network provided by Telstra ..."

By Bazwalt

Tags

nbn, greens, ludlam, gillard, spill, rudd, election10

Ludlam warns against online rights complacency

Telstra, NBN Co extend deal deadline

How ISPs will tempt you in the NBN era

Ericsson and Huawei score contracts for NZ NBN

Breaking Stories

Bankwest credits IT for flat operating expenses

Conroy warns of cloud uncertainties

Hiring strategy vital to government IT transformation

Melbourne scientists ready 2013 bionic eye trial

ACCC declares Telstra wholesale pricing

Comments: 16

RB Jul 22, 2010 2:47 PM	The original NBN policy announcement included “be built and operated on a commercial basis by a company established at arm's length from Government and involve private sector investment”. So on that basis the Greens are not supporting it. The election is but a few weeks away. Surely we deserve answers to exactly where the money is going to come from and exactly who is going to own the network. It is clearly NOT ALP policy for that to be the public.
rodzilla666 Jul 22, 2010 3:03 PM	When I can get up to 300% faster Internet performance for free using Malaysia/Singapore/Thailand airport wi-fi than I can get from my $180 per month service in Australia on the best day it ever saw, I figure something needs to be drastically improved. The NBN is essential! My vote depends on it!
MerariSchroeder Jul 22, 2010 3:55 PM	@rodzilla666, what you want is more affordable internet. How is spending $43bn in a risky tax-payer scheme going to achieve affordability? It will certainly make nerds salivate - it most definitely has a techno-motive affect. The government will certainly brag to the world! But then when the rest of the world have built their lower cost networks with the same benefits, Australia will then be behind again, and also financially.
anonymous Jul 22, 2010 4:30 PM	Hope all this preferencing each other does not mean that the government censorship package also gets waved through by the Greens as part of the deal.
DP Jul 22, 2010 5:10 PM	MerariSchroeder: At the moment the current copper network is at full capacity. The NBN are laying the fibre that has a very extensive life, it's the equipment either end of the pipe that will determine the speed. The way i see it is that ISP's will be responsible for the equipment, thus making upgrading easier and cheaper.
rodzilla666 Jul 22, 2010 9:41 PM	@MerariSchroeder ... I'm less than 20k from the Brisbane CBD and, for the past five years, courtesy of Telstra, my (pair gain) phone lines have been so crappy that I've have 2 x ADSL lines coupled together through a $1400 device to get the speed of a 128kB modem and keep my business afloat. I don't give a rat's bum who wins the election as long as they fix this idiotic situation.
jamesm Jul 22, 2010 9:52 PM	@MerariSchroeder: And how is letting private companies cherry-pick the best areas to fix current internet connectivity issues going to make things better, or affordable? It won't; we'll be stuck with the situation we have now were the incumbent telcos have no justification to improve connectivity in remote areas or to people who have 'technology blockers' in place. Kudos to the Greens for showing that they're a party that is willing to look to the future and make internet access better for all Australians!
D2011 Jul 22, 2010 10:13 PM	@MerariSchroeder: You show a complete lack of understanding of the prospects of the NBN to say what you say . I suppose sewering our cities of yester year & doing away with septic tanks & out houses was a plumbers wet dream? Or the grid electricity we now have instead of candles & gas lanterns was an electricians fantasy? Or town water, or a telephone network etc etc? With the NBN, we are talking about a future proof digital information network for our entire country. You may be amazed to learn that you cant get adsl more than 5km out from an exchange. The signal degrades increasingly the further away you are. Copper has served its purpose, but we need to move on NOW. Like the costs of anything new, cars, tv, computers, PS3, DVD, Blue ray etc etc. The cost comes down as more people purchase the product & competition is stimulated. We had the same arguments when we were moving from dial up to adsl. What will we use it for? Who can afford it? Now things like you tube, skype & iview are a fact of life. With fibre, there IS no ceiling as far as limitations are concerned. You cant beat the speed of light.
Digger11 Jul 23, 2010 9:59 AM	Ludlum is a total waste of space - like all of the Greens people and policies. We all know that the NBN is another Labor Party waste of money - it does not much more than ADSL2+. It will only enable us to download Porn and Movies a little bit faster. $43b could have been spent on many new hospitals, roads , dams, aged health care, refugee camps etc. Remember where the NBN came from - it was a Telstra PR stunt for FTTN that was purely designed to maroon competitive carriers DSLAM Investments. The Labor party fell for this when in opposition as they wanted to discredit Coonan. When (amazingly) these jokers got into power, they converted it to FTTH and decided to build it themselves !!! Cop that Telstra !!! and Cop that Australian naive public !!!
realitybites Jul 23, 2010 10:30 AM	@D2011.. +1 mate We used to have a saying in the days of Bulletin Boards and 2400baud modems.. "Build it, and they will come"... and look where we are now. @digger.. needs moar exclamation marks, and, u mad ?
carl Jul 23, 2010 3:46 PM	@Digger11 I assure you that NBN is important for our nation. It isnt just for internet it is a replacement/Upgrade for the telecommunications network eg your Telephone Telstra has repeatedly admitted the current copper telephone network is unmanageable and difficult to retain working order. I work at a large business however we are shutting down lost our jobs to overseas provider. The reason? One hint The Internet Network speeds, price and availability is too expensive and unreliable to keep our jobs in australia and instead will be sent to Europe. We just couldnt compete with the network internet, telephone (internet based VOIP) communication pricepoints available in other countries. ADSL2 is completely different service to NBN, sure ADSL is fast if your very very very close to an exchange, 24MB/2MB is absolute MAXIMUM. We are Melbourne CBD and can only get 8MB/512Kb. NBN technically speaking is capable of being far more stable for a business, offering a service that companies can bid for overseas companies to outsource to Australian Companies and even better allow Australian companies to remain in Australia yet maintain a competitive Telecommunications cost INCLUDING TELEPHONE CALLS!!!! Not just Internet!! The reason we lost our jobs and the income gone to europe is ADSL is not stable enough for business as is relies on anchient telephone copper cable. The cost making ADSL2+ stable and increasing to high bandwidth (pay for many connections), or getting private ethernet providers is cost prohibitive compared with other countries.
thor Jul 24, 2010 1:32 AM	@digger11 you are all over the place when it comes to opinion. First you are for the filter (Labor incentive) but you are against the NBN. That is what you call minority. Anyway my input is that Australia has a second rate internet compared to many first world countries. Working in different organisation ranging from small business to large, the cost is enormous. $5000 a month is not unusual for a 10 mb download and upload. Imagine those company having 100mb or 1 gb speed and what that will do for them in terms of productivity. I believe in the NBN and the purpose around it which Labor has done well except I am torn because of the internet filter. At the moment the greens look like the only viable option.
Wakie Jul 24, 2010 2:52 AM	Digger11 is nothing more than a forum troll, just ignore it.
D2011 Jul 24, 2010 9:21 AM	Merari & Digger, your views are political views & not practical ones. Maybe those view points would get high fives over at the IT blog on the Australian, but it appears more moderate conservatives like the idea. Like the QLD LNP : http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/queensland-coalition-mps-support-net-plan-tony-abbott-wants-to-dump/story-fn5z3z83-1225896284824 Liberal Brisbane mayor is also desperate for it. http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/352104/_sewer_pipes_may_deliver_broadband/ My business & my clients want it. They want video conferencing & voip & these things are only reliable with shdsl or adsl 2+ within 3km of an exchange. They want to fly less. Faster broadband speeds is only touching the surface of what we can do with fibre. When business is able to access these sorts of speeds, they are then not limited in their innovation in regards to the net, which will then flow on down to the consumer.
umbria Jul 24, 2010 10:46 AM	@Digger11, the 60% of Australians who can get ADSL forget that the rest are condemned to dialup. Worse still, the have-not 40% all have hefty STD phone bills, and the only solution - VoIP - doesn't work on wireless or satellite. Your beloved Telstra withdrew ISDN for its valued country customers two years back, telling them that satellite was just as good. So now former ISDN customers who could use VoIP are back to paying STD rates. VoIP requires a constant trickle of 64 Kbps up and down to work, but wireless consists of higher-speed bursts and only works on fixed internet services, i.e. fibre and ADSL. The reality is that fibre is cheaper than wireless for all but 7% of premises in Australia, so anyone claiming to be a good economic manager is proven not to be if he advocates wireless as the end game wherever fibre to premises is cheaper. It is an important mobility and blackspot technology, but inevitably fibre will be laid, and the sooner the cheaper, and the earlier the social and economic benefits for our country cousins will start.
Bazwalt Jul 30, 2010 6:51 PM	Wakie is right, Digger11 is either an exceptional forum troll or a massive moron. For those who do not understand (why you are here is fairly questionable) the copper network provided by Telstra is, as many have already said, a degrading service that is at a point in its lifespan where it is completely unmanagable. Telstra spend more time fixing the damn thing than they do actually laying new fibre (which, correct me if im wrong, but they've stopped doing). The technology itself lacks in performance and has little to no resilience which makes the idea of even calling it stable .. a total joke. Fibre, although costly to initially lay, is overall a MUCH more resilient technology and is far cheaper to maintain. From what I understand, you can have a fibre cut re-spliced in under a couple of hours. I would expect to see far less truck rollouts once the NBN rollout is complete. TL;DR - Copper is an age-old and unreliable service that lacks resilience to service interruptions and is better replaced with a newer and more reliable technology that offers increased performance and an overall stable service that meets the standards for todays technological requirements at a fair cost to the consumer.