Your choice is to sign up to the new expensive NBN now, or do so later at a higher cost.

The kicker to this, is that as the NBN Co is buying all Telstra's land lines and will shut them down, there is a government monopoly. Given that the NBN was marginally viable with an 80% take up, and less than 50% were prepared to take the "free installation" the only way Conroy can make the NBN viable is to shut down all the alternatives.

Hey it worked for the tolled tunnels, why not for the internet.

But who cares, you will pay more for a faster cleaner filtered line, that only allows material approved by board of politically correct old f*rts.

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/connect-to-nbn-now-or-pay-up-to-300-for-phone-line-20101015-16ms3.html
http://news.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/gillard-backs-controversial-web-filter-20101012-16hm0.html

Hmmm, still torn;

Personally, a government monopoly is most definitely better than a private corporate monopoly such as Telstra, due to great accountability (that is, more than zero), and of course the removal of profit and shareholder needs to cut costs.

But with Conroy I would see your concern.

Ideally, the entity would be an independent yet public and apolitical department of infrastructure.

And a Bill of (telecommunicational) Rights that forbid the government from filtering content.

But Telstra being stripped of the infrastructure is good news for me, as far as I'm concerned- that company is among the very worst things to have happened to Australia.

Come on King, fair crack of the whip mate.

Everyone knows Telstra got rid of 60% of the government level of staff, & were still over manned.

They reduced prices by 70% & still made good profits.

I do believe we should have kept the Commonwealth bank, & power distribution not generation, & rail, & water, but telecommunications was a major union rip off, & had to go.

Of course now we need to outsource the public service, to get some real cost cutting.

King Hazza sorry to mess you up with the facts but when the Government (The Postmaster's Generals department) controlled the phones it was ten times the price and it took six weeks to get a phone. Oh unless you were an SP Bookie then you got ten lines within 24 hours after paying a hefty bribe.
The Government have never done anything right or proper. Competition and the market is the only way. Leave the Public SErvants sleeping at their desks and decimate the managers who are paid not only fabulous salaries but pay no taxes and get super of insane proportions.

""" But Telstra being stripped of the infrastructure is good news for me, as far as I'm concerned- that company is among the very worst things to have happened to Australia. """

Well, well great Exalted one. Even before they were sold off you had an option. Why are people so afraid of exercising their right to vote with their wallet? Must we require the loons at the top to do everything for us?

I have been with Optus since they rolled out their cable network for both phone and broadband(very fast by the way, as fast as fiber) and I have been more than happy with them for over ten years! No need for me to require the goons at the top to do things for me. I am quite capable of rejecting tosser corps and their thieving ways!

I will be more than capable of rejecting this lemon being forced on me by a commie red idiot when he tries. He can suck my big toe for all I care!

Sorry people, but free market principles only work when there is competition independent of infrastructure; As Telstra owned the landline infrastructure, there was simply no competition and we had a private-owned shareholder-dependent monopoly; one that delivered extremely poor services, kept us at an exceptionally low standard of telecommunications operation, cut services to rural areas, regularly had outsourced (and market-ignorant) telemarketers harass and canvas us on a daily basis today despite having TERMINATED their services decades ago.

Some success story.