SM...good thread.. and probably just one of MANY to come.

Pericles... you say:

"I must confess to be a complete ignoramus on the structure and operation of the NBN."

Much as it is out of kilter with our discussion on another thread..I must entirely agree. I don't really have much of a clue about so much of it.

SM.. you seem good at digging this kind of info up.

Howwwww about:

1/ Look for the 'Labor/Union sweetheart dollar deals'
2/ Look for the 'well connected Labor politicians (current and ex parliament) who have fingies in the financial pie.
3/ If you can get some hint of how MUCH $$ it might cost and how they might run it.. 'bandwidth limits/excess usage fees.. speed roll back' etc..I'd love to know.

IF... we don't have an international connection by under sea fibre optic cable which can cope with the traffic... methinks we might not get as much of a deal as we'd like.

Final Thought. Seems like it's a bit of a ploy to 'Nationalize' i.e.. 'Telecom II' the comms situation.

I'm not exactly against that.. I've had a gut full of mind numbing 'choice' from the uncompetitive competitors out there.

Oh..IINET is supposed to be really GOOD (my boy says so) service.. talk to an Aussie... efficient.

BROCK,
The former first term Rudd labor government failed totally to administer their projects efficiently. This cost them a leader and majority government. This by no means dictates that future nor past labor governments could or would, have or could implement good policy. Your statement shows that you have little objectivity and even less ability to see good policy from bad.

Antiseptic,
You may wish to clarify your statement as without question labor have always fought for workers rights even though at times they may have gone to far in doing so. Responsibility for certain areas of work place safety lay within different levels of government. If you would like to debate the reasoning of riding ourselves of the pointless and expensive state governments then let's do it, but don't proportion blame for cheap political gain.

Shadow minister,
"But as politicians, Labor has never shied away from buying votes. These will just be the most expensive ever."

When i first viewed this thread your post was not evident. But this statement would be the most laughable. When it comes to buying votes the former Howard liberal government would lead the way. The family tax benefit, the family tax benefit bonus, the disability bonus, the baby bonus and the lack of tackling business tax reform. On top they introduced assistance payments to the unemployed for petrol and many other costs involved in "searching for work". Get it together, The NBN will seriously increase competition in the telecommunications market by putting all competitor on a level playing field. I know that is unwanted by many but it will improve the situation for rural Australia untold. You clearly don't get the current and unfolding market in ecommerce and marketing available through a markedly improved delivery system. You are the type that will claim great victory as your government makes good from the labours of others in the future. We are desperately suffering now for the failure of the past governments to invest in the infrastructure the sees us currently suffering across the board.

I too knew very little about the NBN until I watched 'Insight' on SBS last night. The show gave many pros and cons about this network, and was quite heated at times! I enjoyed the program and suggest others read the transcripts (or watch the replay) on the link below if they want to be better informed on the issues.

I was particularly impressed with Tony Windsor's very wise response to the issues involved (as he always does)-

<"TONY WINDSOR: I have doubts about the Productivity Commission. I am a supporter of the national broadband network. I think it is the one piece of infrastructure that I've seen from a country perspective that actually can negate distance as being a disadvantage of living in the country. We talk about paradigms in this particular parliament, the changing paradigms. I think this is the one thing that can do that in terms of doing business, health, education and a whole range of things."

http://news.sbs.com.au/insight/episode/index/id/332#transcript

I was a fan of the NBN by the end of this program, mainly because I believe the health needs of country Australians should be met at the same levels of service as those in city areas.

The only way this can happen is by providing high speed broadband into country health centres and GP surgeries, so that improved, widespread teleconferencing by Medical experts located in cities can assess patients in far-flung areas without them having to incur huge expenses to go to the medicos in the nearest city.

If the proposed NBN only achieved improved health and education outcomes for country people, and nothing else, I would be happy.

Suzeonline,

Sure, why not bring fast networks to regional health centres if it's not there already, but you should realize that for individual households in cities, the existing technology is already more than capable of video-conferencing with doctors.

The NBN promoters obtain your sympathy by talking about health and education, but their only real interest is to drug people with more entertainment.

We seem to be making a lot of assumptions about the NBN here, and especially about the motives for providing it. But how many of those assumptions can be supported by evidence?

1) That it is all about buying votes?

2) That it is all about drugging us with entertainment?

Neither seems to be supported by anything more than suspicion. I, for one, support the closing of the gap between metropolitan and regional Australia. I choose to live in a regional centre, and must accept the consequences of that choice - shoddy infrastructure, lack of representation at the state level (1,400km away) and at the federal level (even further), the list goes on.

However, my state (Queensland) seems determined to push people out of the metropolitan area and into the regions. Bligh wants to turn Townsville into a 'second capital'. She wants enormous population growth and economic growth. This will have implications not only for Townsville, but also for the Burdekin, for Ingham, for Charters Towers, for the Bowen Basin ... much as I would like to see Townsville and the surrounding region remain a small, provincial area, I think that if the government wants to push people into my neighbourhood, it needs to back it up with some infrastructure upgrades. The NBN could make distance in this sleepy hollow more viable. It could make educational divides less noticeable and, yes, it could lure people with easier access to entertainment.

All of this, of course, is a state initiative. But does the push for a 'big Australia' really foresee enormous growth in the cities with little growth elsewhere? Again, this push is something I don't like, but it seems likely to stay with us for some time. If we want to ease the strain on the cities, we need to build infrastructure - including IT infrastructure - in the regions.

As for the argument that it will go out of date too quickly - are we really expected to sit on our already out-of-date technology while we wait for that ultimate and insurmountable technological development that cannot be outdated?

I expect it from Shadow minister.
But read every post here.
I just have again.
I know nothing of the NBN is a common theme.
Followed by an opinion.
One histrionic, [ that is the impact on me] post said if I am in the country why should city folk suffer for it?
Most people, by now I was giggling, live in city's it said.
The NBN is nothing less than the first roll out nation wide of telephone.
An an tempt to give better, sometimes only communication, to? all this country.
It is true, one day, maybe soon, some thing better may/will come along.
Also it may be generations before it does.
Are we Luddites?
Do we truly say forget the bush, the need to have equal communications nationwide.
Maybe its time to tell Matilda to leave, bury the billy tin, have our holidays in city's give the 4x4 away and catch a tram.
Hey! lets give the bush to the boat people! its not Australia, not in by back yard give them strings and tin cans