I hear a lot of people saying like Mikk does that the higher speeds will create new industries. Which raises a question in my mind.

If that is the case, then the existing Internet should have created some new industries too, but I'm scratching to find them. Sure there's spam and social media and web design, and there's a smattering of things that we can do now that we absolutely couldn't previously, like linking remote computers together to do data-crunching.

But what genuinely new industries have been created?

On Line Opinion is an Internet only production, but it is part of the publishing industry, and we don't need higher bandwidth.

It seems to me that the Internet has mostly been applied in existing industries, in which cases it has often added costs, rather than taking them away, and used for things that were done using alternative technologies in the past.

If most of what the NBN does is allow broadcasters to use the Internet rather than broadcast spectrum, it is a pretty expensive toy.

The answer is yes. How much did it cost to electfy Australia? that's the sort of transformation we are talking about.

Jeff as an IT guy as well I find it funny the tone of your piece here. I'll remind you of a very famous example of "going for bronze rather then gold" moment. PC's had for many, may years memory limitations due to a short sighted Engineer saying that noone would ever need more then 640K of memory.

If Telstra had never been PRIVATIZED, we would most likely have had this service half a decade ago.

Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, unless there is a cheaper way to plant fibre-optic cables and keep them under public ownership, then I would say YES. If EITHER of those criteria failed to be met, then no- and it would be the absolute last chance the Labor party would have had to redeem itself.
This might come as a surprise to some but the faster broadband would actually greatly help most internet users, who may have to download large (and legal) documents, and preferably immediately so they can get to work on them instantly instead of put their life on hold, maybe leave their computer running till the download crawls up to completion.

I would say this is the first good idea Labor have had in decades.
I would simply demand they re-evaluated their costing because fibre-optic cable really is NOT expensive.

Telstra was privatized - there is no undoing the omelet.

There is a touch of 'build it and they will come' about the proposal.

And there is a bit of self interest about some of the opposition to the proposal- High speed broadband is a threat to the cable networks. Our failure to adopt it years ago had a bit to do with Mr Packers clout.

Mikk summarized this nightmare:

"This will transform our society and our lives"

So yet again, this is a call for revolution, akin to Mao's cultural-revolution: those who are unhappy, desire to overturn the established ways of life, forcing their new life-style and toys on all others, including those who are happy with everything as it is and have no need for their toys.

"The applications for this technology have yet to be invented"

Looks like the devil is keeping himself busy!

"It will reverse the decline of country town"

It will send away those who preferred to live in country towns for their peace and quiet, simplicity, slow-pace and direct, physical, human contact, as well as parents who wished to protect their children from being infected by technological garbage, further out into the outback.

"It will allow our brightest minds to shine"

Those brightest minds are already shining. Do you think they are standing in line for more bandwidth? May I remind you that Einstein never used a computer!

"It will attract the brightest minds in IT to our shores"

Funny you mention this: the Australian government indeed accepted me in Australia just on those grounds, whereas in fact, one of my considerations in coming here was to look for a peaceful place that is rather backward, away from the technological-madness.

Mikk, this is a delusion, the boredom and discontent is subjective and the need for entertainment is insatiable: one who is not happy now with what they have, will not be happy with their new toys either, soon to throw them away looking for newer ones.

Fortunately it will all end soon. Once the global population-bubble explodes, the remaining pile of silicon-electronics will be totally useless.

mikk "The applications for this technology have yet to be invented."

The applications might never be invented, broadband is not a panacea for stupidity, ignorance or laziness you know.

I guess this is like people saying if you give someone a really good guitar, to replace a crappy one, they will all play like Eric Clapton.

It just doesn't happen that way, uncreative people remain uncreative in the midst of creative people. Adding high speed internet will not make people smarter, how on earth do you come up with that, apart from listening to the ALP?

"It will reverse the decline of country town. Turn a lot of them into high tech production hubs. It will allow our brightest minds to shine."

No it won't, kids will actually find out much more quickly though the wonderful offerings of the big cities, and bugger off even faster - not everyone wants to live in the country, I don't mind the occasional visit to the country, but could not live there, for me, it's boring. The brightest minds do not want to live in the isolation of the country, they tend to live where they can get stimulated.

Do you think country towns are full of bright young things, and all they need to is faster internet "to shine"?

High bandwidth internet does not make you smarter, does not make you more creative, does not create jobs of it's own - we can't all be website designers you know - someone has to create a need.

If the need isn't there ..then there will be no jobs created.

It's just the usual silly leftist mantra .. much like the green jobs from renewables .. where are they? (probably waiting for that wonderful broadband stuff eh?)