With the sad news of the computer world's Steve Jobs' passing it makes one think as to how much we rely on the phenomenon developed by this great man.
The NBN for example. What will happen if a backhoe cuts a cable at a critical time. What back-up is there for a time when there are long power black-outs.
The entire economy of countries can be jeopardised by the heavy reliance on computers. Weapon systems, Medicine & information will be affected. There are people now who can't function without a computer. Air travel, simply everything one can think of involves a reliance on computers to some degree. I think it's both scary & wonderful.
R.I.P. Steve Jobs

Why you'd even bother worrying about what happens if the NBN is completed I can't guess- that project had clearly been aborted.

Appointing Telstra as the primary stakeholder guaranteed it would die.
Aside from their incompetence ensuring that the project will come crashing to a stop as they let their greed, pettiness and simple inability to manage anything; is the fact that the only positive PR the government had with this project was the idea of getting a cutting edge NATIONAL (that is, public owned) network that would have nothing to do with awful companies like Telstra- who are the reason why our nation has fallen so far behind in telecomms to begin with.

This thread is satire isn't it?
Back hoes have from day one cut such things
Water and gas mains too!
Daily hourly cut is just as likely as not.
We all know the world does not stop, people grumble say its a disgrace, but with in hours it is back on.
Now Little Ron, a Foreman from my long ago past.
Angry at the very thought his fill in team leader was about to? dig a hole!
Gave every one of us a heated lecture on being safe, marked the spot white x told the excavator in great detail what he wanted.
First bucket full broke the water main!
Loved Ron,good bloke but laugh? we said his panic button was about 100mm round.
20 years before same story boss took charge I watched him dig up a house water service and leave the job for me to fix Ute wheels smoking.
Ribbon buried these days above item, mapping exists to pin point them phone numbers to ring before digging and still a Ron exists .

When I was in the soil testing game, I busted services regularly. My record was a house in Gerladton, with the world's weirdest piping. I managed to hit a pipe on 3 sides out of four and I didn't dig in the front yard at all! Another big one, although not mine, was the young engineer who managed to dig through the line that controls all the railway level crossings in southern Perth, leading to every one "failing safe" by dropping the barriers. The cops were not happy and Westrail weren't ecstatic either.

I can also recall the fibre between Sydney and Melbourne being cut twice whilst I was working on the Tarcutta Range section of the Hume Highway. The first time, there were no consequences because the marker was actually incorrect about the alignment but the second time it cost, I believe, $40,000 a minute. Helicopters flew the cable repair team in.

I'm not sure what sort of architecture the NBN is going to use, but if it's got multiple redundant pathways, as a modern network should, then cutting one leg won't be a problem.

I think that will be a built in contingency plan to create jobs.

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Steve Jobs' passing it makes one think as to how much we rely on the phenomenon developed by this great man
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What phenomenon what that be exactly?
The phenomenon of a corporation dictating to you how you may use something you've legally purchased?

The phenomenon of suing anyone that even remotely tries to exercise their right to do whatever they want with their own legally purchased product.

The phenomenon of preventing other companies from selling competing products because they look similar to your product which you copied from another company more than 20 years ago.

Or perhaps the phenomenon of turning a blind eye to the plight of exploited workers who were being made extremely ill working in the factories that made your products even when they cried out for help to you personally?

Or the phenomenon of doing nothing when workers were suiciding in your factories because of inhumane working conditions.

Apple inc are the poster child of all that most people hate about corporations and Jobs was the head maker of that vile corp, he was evil personified! No great loss if you ask me, he was far from a great man!