Well I can't afford to buy any more meg than I currently buy.

I gather it will cost more, when/if I am connected to glass, so that will actually mean I can download less than now. This being the case, the fact it will be quicker is totally useless.

579, where do you dream these things up ?
The cable in my street is +60 years old and is teflon.
No problems at all.

Worldwatcher, looks like the article you mentioned was a ploy by the
military to get a bit more bandwidth.
What would they be doing transmitting unencrypted info anyway ?
Allocations and regulations are designed to reduce or eliminate the
problem you mention.
Here in Australia radio amateurs share the 400 mhz band with the
services anyway. From time to time the US Navy can be heard and ships
radars are also heard occasionally, so there is a sharing agreement
also in the US, in fact probably internationally.

They will bring the NBN past your door and terminate in your premises for free.
However I think you have to pay the monthly fee.
If you refuse you will have to pay for a connection later.
I bet they will be coming around begging for you to connect.

The idea, seems to be typically Labour.
You will have the NBN whether you like it or not !
Also Telstra is forbidden to offer you a wireless (radio) service;
So there TAKE THAT !

Just remembered, doesn,t this match Combe's statement to a communications meeting in the US;
If I tell you to wear red underpants on your head YOU WILL !

Teflon 60+ years ago. Bazz you get a gas meter on your property weather you want it or not. It's not you wanting to use gas it's the person that lives in your house in future. And seeing the meter is installed free, it's cheaper for the gas co; to do the lot at once.
For 50$ / month you get 100 gig. now.

579, we haven't got a gas meter, never did have one.
Wouldn't it be more sensible to just run the pipe in and close off.

I can't see much advantage in the NBN to me. I will just wait and see
what offers are made. If they via Telstra have a good Gbytes download
rate and include a modem then fine. Umm, will we in fact need a modem ?
I think I saw that they have an ethernet o/p from their box.
If so all you would need would be an ethernet hub.

You said; Teflon 60+ years ago.
Does that imply you never heard of teflon that long ago.
The Leo III computer I worked on had teflon wiring.
That was the first time I had seen it and was surprised by its slipperiness when stripping it.
They started pulling the paper insulated wiring out of the street
shortly after the war, they did the oldest first.
That is my recollection although I was not involved.

579

Currently I pay $29.99 per month for ADSL+2 . Wouldn't want that to increase to $50 per month as I don't need more than what I have right now, which I think is around 50 gig.

Could the private sector have offered it cheaper and faster?

Cheaper? No, because the government has access to funds at a much lower rate than private companies.

Those Private/Public partnerships than were often used to fund tollways showed that all the cost - plus added extras due to higher interest- are passed onto the consumer, as well as all liabilities. (If they go wrong, the taxpayer has to bail them out). Then they have to add their profits on top of those costs. The public end up paying far more than necessary for infrastructure while politicians appear to be providing it at a lower cost in the short term.

Faster?

No, because there are no private companies than can provide standard infrastructure on a national basis. Telstra itself once tried to carve off their network engineering division as a private company (remember NDC?) but nobody was willing to buy it. In the end, after wasting a billion dollars or so, they "bought it back" for one dollar.
At best there could be companies that could provide limited service in select areas but not on a national basis. A Canadian company was planning to provide fibre to the Newcastle/Hunter area years ago but couldn't get a partner and couldn't overcome restrictive local council issues.

In the end it comes down to management - not ownership. Although it's currently owned by the government NBN Co. has been created and is managed as a private corporation so it really makes the question irrelevant. It's being provided by effectively a private company and at the cheapest price now. The question should be whether you want a nationally integrated network or not.