Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman today reportedly confirmed the city would roll out fibre broadband to homes around the city, in a move that sparked a mixed reaction from Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.

Newman’s office was unable to immediately provide details of the scheme, but the Sydney Morning Herald and ZDNet.com.au have reported the network will be rolled out through the city’s sewers by broadband specialist company i3 Asia-Pacific. It will see about 15,000 homes per month receive access to the service on a voluntary basis.

In a statement, Conroy said Brisbane’s plans constituted recognition that fibre to the home was “the ultimate future-proof technology” for Australia.

He added it was disappointing that Newman’s Federal Liberal Party colleagues – Newman is from Queensland’s Liberal National Party – were unable to grasp “the important of the transformation this technology will deliver to Australians.”

Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull yesterday delivered a speech in Melbourne in which he lambasted the justification behind Labor’s National Broadband Network project as featuring a series of false dichotomies between a glorious fibre future and a world where Australians are starved for broadband.

Turnbull said it was possible to deliver higher speeds to many Australians more quickly than was possible under the NBN rollout by facilitating the upgrade of Telstra and Optus’ HFC cable networks to the DOCSIS 3.0 standard – which allows speeds of up to 100Mbps.

“The Mayor’s proposal clearly disputes Malcolm Turnbull’s claims that people living in cities already have adequate broadband,” said Conroy. “The Liberal Mayor of Brisbane understands that people want superfast broadband now.”

Turnbull also yesterday reiterated his call for Labor to conduct a comprehensive cost/benefit analysis on the NBN.

However Conroy said he noted Brisbane’s proposal had not been subject to either a cost/benefit analysis – or a detailed implementation study – the second of which has been conducted with relation to the NBN.

“The Government looks forward to seeing more details on the Mayor’s proposal,” concluded Conroy.

Image credit: Clix, royalty free

Related posts:

1. Telstra switches on Brisbane fibre
2. Stop delaying the NBN, Conroy tells Turnbull
3. Conroy’s fibre claims “absolute tripe”, says Turnbull
4. TPG signs up for South Brisbane fibre
5. First South Brisbane fibre customers go live

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1. Marty
   Posted 14/10/2010 at 6:18 pm | Permalink | Reply

   ‘However Conroy said he noted Brisbane’s proposal had not been subject to either a cost/benefit analysis – or a detailed implementation study – the second of which has been conducted with relation to the NBN.

   “The Government looks forward to seeing more details on the Mayor’s proposal,” concluded Conroy.’

   Conroy is a douche. Campbell Newman doesn’t have to do a cost/benefit analysis because he/tax payers won’t be paying for the fibre to be laid.

   While I applaud Mr Newman for allowing i3 to use our waste water pipes to run fibre, what will happen once our parliament passes legislation for the NBN that makes it illegal to compete with the NBN?

2. Marty
   Posted 14/10/2010 at 6:28 pm | Permalink | Reply

   Hey, I wonder if Conroy will ‘rip up’ i3′s fibre like he says Abbott would do to the NBN?

3. Brian D
   Posted 14/10/2010 at 6:46 pm | Permalink | Reply

   Why is nobody thinking about wireless access points in all parks with public toilets ?

   I can see brisbane turning an instant profit. Costs the council nothing to install and in return they can charge for extras at the park access points. ??

   Maybe I’m looking to far forward… but you will be hard pressed to convince me I am.

4. Darryl Adams
   Posted 15/10/2010 at 10:40 am | Permalink | Reply

   Brisbane is lucky in that the Brisbane City Council is quite large, so many people will benifit from the cable roll out.

   If the Electrical utilities did the same thing in Sydney and Melbourne, much of the NBN would not be needed, and they can focus on the rural and black spots.

   Optus got a leg up by tacking into the SRA’s phone system in Sydney, so there is precendent of sharing public and private infrastructure.

5. Me
   Posted 15/10/2010 at 11:47 am | Permalink | Reply

   Deploying fibre in a sewer and that was that best headline you could come up with Renai? ;)
   “Brisbane commits to IP and IPOO rollout” perhaps?