news The National Broadband Network Company has revised its fibre to the premises rollout forecasts dramatically down for the third time in six months, with the company now projecting that only 729,000 premises will be passed by its fibre by the end of June 2014, a little over half of what it was projecting in August 2012.
In the company’s most recently updated formal Corporate Plan, published in August 2012 (PDF), it was projecting that it would have deployed fibre to some 1.3 million premises nationally by the end of June 2014, including both brownfields areas, which are already served by Telstra’s copper network, as well as a small number of greenfields areas, constituting new property developments.
In March this year, NBN Co unexpectedly revised its forecast for the end of June this year. Initially, the company had been forecasting that it would reach some 341,000 premises by that period with its rollout. However, the company at that stage revised its targets down to between 190,000 and 220,000. At the time, NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley, who has since flagged plans to retire from his role, said the company was “accountable” for the delay, but was disappointed with its failure.
At the time, Quigley also said that what he characterised as a “short-term issue” would not affect the long-term delivery of the NBN. “NBN Co remains on track to deliver fast, affordable and reliable broadband to every Australian by 2021 as set out in our Corporate Plan,” the executive said. NBN Co eventually met the targets it had set in March.
However, since that time, it has been revealed that the company has had to revise its figures for the next year downwards again twice. This week the Financial Review newspaper published a draft copy of NBN Co’s new Corporate Plan (PDF), which, it is believed, was delivered to the then-Labor Federal Government before the election — in draft form.
That version of the Corporate Plan details the fact that by the end of June 2014, NBN Co expected at that stage to have covered just 981,000 premises with its network — a figure 319-odd thousand down from its plan a year ago. And yesterday, new Coalition Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull said September figures supplied by NBN Co had been revised down even further. The company was now planning to reach just 729,000 premises by the end of June, Turnbull said.
“The NBN Co has recently advised the Government that is proposing to revise its rollout target for premises passed by fibre by 30 June 2014 down by almost half from the forecast made four months ago,” Turnbull and fellow NBN Co shareholder Minister Mathias Cormann said in a statement released yesterday, along with the new Government’s new Statement of Expectations for NBN Co.
In an interview on the ABC’s flagship current affairs show 7:30 last night, Turnbull said he believed NBN Co’s targets had been “essentially political”.
“I don’t think they were ever realistic, to be frank with you,” Turnbull said. “You can take two views, I suppose. You can say they were always unrealistic or some people thought they were, with the benefit of hindsight, naively or over optimistically thought they were realistic. But the fact is they’ve slipped enormously.”
“I mean if you look at the forecast for premises passed by fibre as at June 2014, the end of June 2010 they said there would be 2.7 million premises, in August 2012 they said 1.3 million and then in June they said it would only be 981,000. A figure that [former Communications Minister] Anthony Albanese kept secret. This was in the draft corporate plan that he refused to release, you might remember. And then in their latest forecasts, which is just this month, they’ve said it will be 729,000. So in the space of a few years the forecast has dropped by nearly 75 per cent.”
The Communications Minister acknowledged that deadlines did slip on major projects, but said that in future, he wanted to know “the plain, unvarnished facts” regarding NBN Co’s rollout.
Yesterday, at the release of the Statement of Expectaions, Turnbull and Cormann said a key priority would be to reduce the backlog of 66,000 premises passed by the NBN fibre network which could not currently obtain service. “This includes the majority of apartments, schools and businesses in areas where the fibre network has been rolled out,” the pair said. Alternative technologies such as fibre to the basement may be used to cover the gaps in the existing rollout.
In the Coalition’s new Statement of Expectations for NBN Co (PDF), the pair requested that the company start publishing weekly information on its website indicating the number of premises passed by its network, those premises that are passed but cannot receive a service, and those premises with an active service, for each elements of the NBN network (fixed-line, satellite and wireless). The Coalition ministers also noted that they were seeking advice from NBN Co on longer-term arrangements for improving the transparency of the company’s operations.
The Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy is also developing a ranking of broadband quality and availability in all ares of Australia.
The news of NBN Co’s third target reduction in six months has the potential to significantly damage the credibility of the company in terms of its rollout pledges. The company has consistently failed to meet its rollout targets over the past four and a half years since it was established in April 2009, with other delays being caused by lengthy negotiations with Telstra and the additions of responsibilities for greenfields environments to its mandate.
Image credit (table): Office of the Communications Minister
Not shifting the blame off Labor, they’ve had six years and then some to resolve this in the past as well, but I’d just like to give a little more background to one of the factors behind the latest delay:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/coalition-knew-of-telstra-asbestos-labor/story-fn3dxiwe-1226656709463
http://www.news.com.au/national-news/labor-says-the-howard-government-knew-about-asbestos-in-telstra-pits-and-ducts-years-ago/story-fncynjr2-1226656688642
It still stands however that NBN Co, even without those factors, seems to the public to love the sound of deadlines whooshing by.
So construction started around 2011/2012, and you claim they had 6 years, Renai, where do you get your subscribers/readers from?
Telstra’s asbestos is an issue regardless of whether there is or isn’t an NBN, be it FTTP or FTTN. Labor had been in power since 2007.
This is an issue of relevance even if all that was done is occasional repairs to pits as ADSL2+ and POTS trundles along. This was an issue of relevance, even if not urgency, just as much in let’s say 1990.
But why is it so far behind is the question?
Is it to do with contractors needing to pass faults onto Telstra re pits/cabling and then Telstra not actioning?
Or is it due to plain old mismanagement?
Why? Why? Why?
I think its a little from column A, a little from aisle 2.
There has been so much turmoil outside NBN Co that would drive any project under that its not funny, and that has to add up over time. Specifically this year you’ve had the asbestos issue slowing EVERYTHING down, then Syntheo pulling the plug. Thats 2 things you cant easily factor in, though the asbestos one should have been considered somewhere.
Then there’s the growing caustic attitude the Liberals brought to the party. Who in their right mind is going to be working at 100% knowing they probably wouldnt have a job come September? Sorry, but thats a consideration as well, particularly with this latest report.
That doesnt fully explain why there has been such a sharp dropoff, but knowing the issues locally have slowed things down by 2 months just on the asbestos issue, I can see how that would impact everywhere else as well.
Exactly why I didn’t end up working for them after being accepted early this year… job stability didn’t sound great. That attitude was also obvious from everyone I was interviewed by: all doom and gloom.
As for delays, anyone who didn’t expect them were ignorant… it’s how large scale infrastructure works. Plan to do it in x time, hire subcontractors… then sit on your hands and wait for variations to start popping up that’ll slow it down.
Working in a company that is pretty well always working as a contractor for government projects, we wouldn’t expect the government body managing us to be responsible for delays. If we promise to deliver something (as was the case with Telstra/Syntheo etc), we either deliver them… or accept blame for the delay. Then again we’re typically BOO model, so it’s a slightly different relationship.
The analogy that Alan Kohler provides might be worthwhile considering – just to put things into perspective.
“The NBN is a complex Government-owned, ubiquitous monopoly wholesale broadband network, connecting Earth’s least populated continent, on a very tight business plan, that is running about as far behind schedule as a normal house renovation – that is, it’s more or less on track.”
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-25/kohler-turnbulls-in-charge-of-the-nbn/4979392
Would you accuse a builder of having ‘wildly revised their targets’ and ‘blown their credibility’ if your house renovation slipped by 9-10 days over 1 year? And would others accuse you of hysterics?
But these are not missed targets at the end of the rollout, it’s not even targets missed halfway through the rollout, it’s missed targets at the very beginning of the rollout, and they have been continually been missed where the installation mass is small.
Extrapolate the ongoing missed targets through to the predicted completion date of 2021 where we are continually on a NBN Co promise of ‘we will make it up in the next reporting period’ which of course never happens.
We also need to take into account the need for more and more funding because of the missed targets as each Businesses plan is released and you have some idea of the scale of the looming problem.
Apart from Telstra being in no hurry to adequately remedy the ducts & asbestos, plus Syntheo ‘s departure what incentive was there for the contractors to invest heavily in training & equipment to speed things up when for the past year it’s been quite obvious that FTTP would likely be scrapped come September & those investments would be wasted. How do you attract a skilled, competent workforce without job security?
So of course their targets weren’t likely to be met thanks to those obstacles & the daily Murdoch/LNP propaganda campaign.
How on Earth could any logical person expect a better result in that climate?
+1000
Yes I’m sure ‘it’s someone else’s fault’ would have carried them throught to at least 2020.
Childish and argumentative, so please…
“Would you accuse a builder of having ‘wildly revised their targets’ and ‘blown their credibility’ if your house renovation slipped by 9-10 days over 1 year? And would others accuse you of hysterics?”
They are certainly doing much better than the builder who built my first rental property.
In any project there are going to be factors outside the control of the contract manager.
Do you sack the contract manager, scrap the project and start over again because of the external con-founders? Only if you like to throw good money after bad.
When NBNco released their updated figures, they could not have foreseen the asbestos problem and certainly they could not have foreseen the delay before roll-out recommenced.
The telling point is that the amount that NBNco is behind schedule is in fact less each time as a proportion of the scheduled progress as measured from the original estimates, reinforcing the point that, the tiny numbers of connections scheduled for the start of the project is of little bearing to the overall timing.
What WILL effect the overall timing and represent significant delays is any major changes now.
The downgraded target is obviously disappointing but I think it’s worth putting some perspective on this and pointing out that a downgrade of 600,000 represents a delay of just over 3 months assuming they reach the promised peak of 6000 premises passed per day. Obviously ramping up to the 6000 is taking longer than promised but the important thing is whether they can reach 6000 or not. If they can’t ever reach this figure then this would mean that there would be huge delays in completion of the project. Rather than the numerous sensationalist articles on the targets I’d actually like to see articles on where they are with this figure and whether it decreases for instance. It just seems to me that it’s a more important statistic than a downgrade in targets that would only represent a 3 month delay by the end of the project. Of course with a new government we may never find out if they could have reached that peak figure anyway.
In December 2013, NBNCo predicted passing 1,268,000 premises by 30th June 2013. In June 2013, the actual number was 208,000 and a significant percentage of these cannot actually order a service. I doubt many CEOs or boards would survive when achieving less than 16% of their target.
Whow… I didn’t know the corporate board had time travel technology. And terribly inefficient at that… if you can go to the past why don’t you just report the correct figure?
Typo, it should have been December 2010, NBNCo predicted passing 1,268,000 premises by 30th June 2013.
Mathew still misleading the public.
Using 2010 predictions before Telstra was onboard.
Don’t worry; FTTN would never have any of these issues.
They wouldn’t be using construction companies (syntheo) or building any networks in pits and ducts whatsover (asbestos). Nor would it have been a government business entity, publishing corporate plans and business numbers to attempt to prevent the most negative opposition in recent history from misrepresenting the project.
But quoting $5K to get off the the ‘old obsolete copper’ which underpinned the all negative Labor campaign was ok?
I’d like to point out:
The difference in 2014 between 2012 and current projections is 45%
The difference in 2015 between 2012 and current projections is 40%
The difference in 2016 between 2012 and current projections is 33%
Does anyone notice a pattern there?
The ramp up is (or rather was) happening. It’s taken longer than predicted. And? Does that mean it won’t happen? No- there’s clear evidence it is. Would the NBN be completed near time if it continued to ramp up as such? Yes.
I don’t really get the issue. There’s been far too much focus on exactly when the NBN would be completed compared to what it will give us for 50 years or more. I’d like this country to learn some patience perhaps?
Your are missing the point,
It is not that there is no construction work, etc,
But for the love of god can NBN Co’ produce a target that it can meet or surpass.
If that means it needs pessimistic targets so it can over deliver when things go well, so be it. But stop over promising and under delivering.
“But stop over promising and under delivering.”
They’ve been over promising because a lot of the factors affecting the early rollout were simply not known to NBNCo.
They’ve been under delivering because a lot of the impediments to the rollout were not under their control.
That said, they could have done better, but to say they did badly is simply spin. To call it a disaster is a untrue.
With a more co-operative Telstra, less asbestos panic and better private industry partners, I’m sure the targets would have been much closer.
But after just a couple of years into a 10 year plan, the worst hurdles were almost certainly past and the ramp up just beginning. That the cost of installs was falling so rapidly was a very good sign.
That’s all by the by, Rupert has voted, and it wasn’t for the Labor plan.
As many people have repeatedly pointed out,
Telstra’s intransigence was well known.
The asbestos in Telstra’s ducts as been known for years.
Contractor management…
What exactly was completely unpredictable?
“Telstra’s intransigence was well known.”
Then you had better warn Turnbull, as he still seems oblivious to the fact.
“The asbestos in Telstra’s ducts as been known for years.”
But the extent was only known by Telstra, who then dealt with the matter irresponsibly.
“Contractor management…”
We are talking about large corporations here, not children. Silstar could not even display enough competence to stay on the job.
Apologies, Syntheo not Silstar.
Bit late to think about that now, considering they are looking to buy these Asbestos pits, just to get FTTN rolling.
Leaving for a future goverment to fix.
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1547843/telstra-rebuffed-over-compo-plan-on-abbotts-watch/
Who sold Telstra? The Coalition Party, willing accomplices, yet blame Labor for nothing to do with Telstra until now with the NBN…
But it’s too late to blame now.
Abbott, the person who was on watch back then, is now the PM of this country.
As you and Quink have posted in this thread all these articles linking to prior government knowledge the asbestos.
It just defies belief that people can continue to argue that the asbestos problem was completely unforseeable for people with industry experience.
If you try to rush a project and have multiple layers of contractors, why wouldn’t OHS be a major issue especially when dealing with hazardous substances many have not dealth with before which may not be factored into original quotes.
Irrespective of the size of the project there are still contractor management issues to ensure that you are getting what you originally agreed to, and that all releveant regulations and procedures are being followed as it is not the contractors name on the project it is the owners. Even it is a subcontractors fault NBN Co will still get some of the blame, whether it is deserved or not.
Umm. They sold the part of the government that knew about the pits. You think the government sold Telstra, but kept a “Telecom Australia” department, just to keep track of the state of the Telstra network?
Nope. The Government sold Telstra, and any employees that knew anything about telecommunications that somehow didn’t get sold along with the Telstra assets were made redundant.
Yes lets keep going around in circles talking about an old issue, regardless of whether it was known or unknown, to deflect from FttN (remember fraudband as they used to call their now lauded choice)…
Regardless of known or unknown, it’s Telstra’s responsibility (until they demand MT have it with the copper he needs) to remediate their own asbestos pits and this has caused delays….
So back to the present and actuals… I can just see the government FttN TV ads now. Featuring a a UK bobby (apt of course because of all the wonderful comparisons to the UK) talking about FttN… But will his catch-cry be ullo, ullo, ullo, what have we got here then” or more likely “move along, nothing to see here”?
I know, but to stick to the topic of the article,
Is it reasonable to miss your targets 3x in 6months?
Especially due to known factors that could have been accounted for, even if they had no direct control over them.
With valid reasons, of course, yes…
Are these reasons valid… this is the arguable point.
Is it valid to hang NBNCo on incorrect estimations?
Anyway…
I look forward to seeing how Mal goes… and if the Michaels and Fibroids of this world come down on him like a tonne of bricks at every thread too (deserved or not).
Somehow I seriously doubt it.
But rest assured, I ‘will’ give MT the benefit of the doubt, you guys have never given NBNCo/FttP.
Well he has done the correct thing by continuing the FTTP rollout while conducting the review.
In direct contradiction to what many posters here suggested.
However, I personally agree with Renai that Ziggy would be a poor choice for CEO / Chair, they would be better served with someone who has experience in network construction or growing a new company. These challenges are much greater & more relevant than Ziggy faced in managing a dominant ex-government monopoly, even if it is in the same sector.
I agree, especially going from Quigley to Zig (with all due respect ) is retrograde IMO.
Simon Hackett is the obvious choice, but probably not ‘conservative enough”… he’d have the audacity to suggest FttP “is” the better choice and we can’t have such insolence can we.’
Surely they can find places for Morgan and Ergas, too?
After all, you don’t ‘need to be a nuclear physicist’ or anything ;)
Telstra remediation/asbestos issues
NBN failed to have penalty clauses in the contract. Asbestos was a issue that was being reported and was causing delays, even halts on rollouts back in 2011/2012. Purely Telstra’s failure to throw the adequately trained resources at the problem.
It became a major issue especially in the media just as the ramp up was building a head of steam. Telstra stopped all remediation. small contractors have taken a haircut and now flogged their new equipment and quit the industry as no income – (especially Tassie)
As Suitably trained staff became available, remediation could and should have recommenced in qualified areas, but no , Telstra maintained a blanket Aust wide shutdown of remediation until after the election.
Strangely backhaul and transits which in many cases still required remediation and is required in both plans continued unaffected and is ahead of schedule
Choice between Telstra absolute incompetence or intentional sabotage – your call.
2) Contractors
Tier 1 contractors are listed companies with substantial executive and management infrastructure and shareholder requirements, as such are cost and efficiency effective in certain but not all circumstances.
NBNCo faced a build taking a decade, plus expansions and extensions for the ongoing future, they should have been building/training their own construction arm and flying squad specialist teams.
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/9/5/technology/nbns-glimmer-hope
Where Syntheo failed dismally NBNCo is succeeding spectacularly and cheaper in the N.T
Tier 1 Contractor solution created the same issues as School Halls, the contractors did not employ enough suitably trained and qualified local contractors, rather bringing in outside subbies
This is going to create substantial delays, the burnt subbies are gone, willing new subbies will be extremely difficult to find. A problem the LNP (M.T), News Ltd and Telstra with minor input from Labor and NBNCo have brought upon themselves.
Maybe the Telstra sackings could be a solution (another can of worms)
So how is Malcolm Turnbull going to deliver a network within 3 years, if that’s not over promising I don’t know what is.
God so many blind blinkers willing to follow Coalition Party to the deep end.
But your are comfortable with three rollout downgrades for the Labor NBN and somehow with a wave of the magic wand it still was always going to be finished by 2021 because they were always going to make up the rollout shortfall in the next reporting period.
All that happened in the next reporting period was that rollout forecasts were downgraded again, how you keep doing that year after year and still make the 2021 deadline of 93% of premises connected with FTTP perhaps someone could explain?
@Fibroid
I tell you what, here’s a quick maths calculation:
Total downgrades (AFTER Telstra deal pushback) I believe are 1.5 million in 2016. That’s approx. 12% of total premises. At 6000 premises per day (lower than their full speed, but close) that’s 1 year to cover them (250 working days a year) At 6600 it’s 10 months.
Original finish date was 2021. No month given. People extrapolated the CP showing construction to June 2021 (FY2021) as finish date June 2021. But that was never stated by NBNCo. That means, they have the entirety of 2021 to finish in and still come in “on time”.
Regardless of any of this, it is clear such downgrades are a result of over-estimation, not a failure to build at all. The ramp up is still happening (or was till Turnbull put a spanner in the works). It is also clear, at full speed, NBNCo. can still complete the NBN within 1 year of its’ original finishing date (whichever month you want to use). I don’t really see a problem with that. In fact, I don’t really see a problem with 2 years. You do.
Yes estimations…
Remember those things you totally disregarded as insignificant when the initial Corp Plan was announced, just to try to talk down the real NBN… ?
And look now, the very same estimations you now suggest are most significant, as they haven’t been met…just to try to, you guessed it… talk down the real NBN…
Again i ask how about supplying some substance to show FttN is the best way to go or are you readying your self to jump aboard Captain Turnbull’s FttP good ship flip-flop?
“But for the love of god can NBN Co’ produce a target that it can meet or surpass.”
not in the political environment we had before, no,
Well, good thing that rotten Quigs resigned, the board has offered to resign, Zig is going to ride in on his trusty steed and most importantly of all, to each and every anti-FttP NBNers – “the Coalition are now here to save the day…’
I feel better already :/
So instead of procrastinating over unmet FttP estimations…the very same estimations BTW, the incessant dooms-dayers such as Fibroid told us should be taken with a grain of salt, when the first Corp plan came out, because they are only estimations (and did so to try to belittle the corp plan as meaningless) but apparently the same estimations, being not met, are now gospel and should have been met (go figure)…
…why aren’t we concentrating on the future? Remember that glorious FttN future of slower, node-a-thon on our streets, using obsolete copper (with $1B p.a. maintenance bill) which will save us a mighty $900m (govt spend) in comparison to FttP?
That’s unless of course, super Mal changes his mind, as apparently it’s now being suggested he’s hinting at…which would of course be great. Not only because of the obvious improvement for Aussies but also the sheer embarrassment it would cause the trusty foot soldiers who have been telling us for so long FttP isn’t required to homes, is wasteful and a white elephant.
Is this where Coalition supporters hide now?
No one procrastinating over anything, other than you folks over the estimatations which are some how really really bad, but don’t look at the other side of the coin.
Like, when was the last time Coalition Party were in power, they sold Telstra and cancelled talks with Telstra instead of pursing them.
Now they think they can deliver an entire network within 3 years, while charging people thousands of dollars for an inferior fibre on demand, which is apparently a trial in the UK, but Malcolm Turnbull hasn’t told you that has it?
Such thick heads.
@ Daniel…
Err, since it wasn’t obvious… that was a sarcastic swipe at the current FttN broaband plan from someone (me) who believes FttP the only real choice for our future…
We really need a sarcasm font… I nominate Comic Sans because… well, because it has comic in its name, and deserves a better reputation than it gets.
Where are all the NBN apologists now? This is what happens when a government initiative gets politicized. They couldn’t publish the correct numbers because it would make the Labor government look like even bigger idiots. The NBN rightfully so resigned, no doubt they knew the numbers were always BS.
Who is the apologists? some myth that you made up?
The Rollout is fine thanks, sure bit delayed, no one is delusioned about that.
I like how you lot are continue to whinge but nothing about Turnbull’s joke a of a policy.
They have less than 3 years to deliver, when Telstra said last time it would have taken 5 years.
I’d like to point out; there are plenty of people above defending these figures.
They are using Rational arguments though, so I can understand why you might not call them apologists.
Since when did Delimiter do crappy headlines for News Ltd?
Renai has always been dismayed by NBNCo figures and deadline slips as should we all. We should 100% be on their asses about any slowdowns, but as I and I am sure Renai would be, we should 100% praise them for the quality of the network they planned to build.
Be realistic here Daniel, are you happy that NBNCo slipped their targets by 50% (2014) and by what must be approximately [and at least] 10% by the end of the project?
I want FTTP. I want NBN co to keep building it. But we are all dismayed at the delays. (regardless of the cause we can still be dismayed that they occured!)
Did you manage to get hold of a copy of the leaked corporate plan? Supposedly cost per premise is now down under $1500 which doesn’t leave much room for FTTN to undercut it.
I have a sneaky feeling Renai gets paid underhand by the liberal party. This stuff is junk – large infrastructure projects NEVER meet their projections simply because of scope and unforeseen consequences. Hell, tools were put down for 2 months because of the Asbestos, and publishing this as a beat up helps no one.
… If you want to do some decent analysis, some work on current changes to the NBN and pros and cons would be nice :P
My GOD. GO AND READ DELIMITER.
Why do people have to say shit like “Renai is getting paid by the coalition”. You’d have to be a drunk illiterate blind deaf monkey to keep trotting that crap out.
I would also like to apologise for my insult to drunk illiterate blind deaf monkeys everywhere for equating people like this to them.
I don’t see Renai getting on the coalition’s case for their absurdly optimistic cost estimates for FTTN. Where was his article on Turnbull’s blown credibility when he claimed he would get the copper from Telstra for free? And how is NBNCo’s credibility blown from a minor downgrade? Do you realize how often private corporations have to delay major plans and execution timelines? When Nintendo revises release estimates of one of their games… Multiple times… Does that make their “credibility blown”? And this is a massive infrastructure project spanning the entire country.
“I don’t see Renai getting on the coalition’s case for their absurdly optimistic cost estimates for FTTN.”
We don’t have a lot of data on that, but I did do a takedown on Turnbull’s $94bn FTTP costing:
http://delimiter2.com.au/just-plain-wrong-full-refutation-coalitions-94bn-nbn-costing/
“Where was his article on Turnbull’s blown credibility when he claimed he would get the copper from Telstra for free?”
http://delimiter.com.au/2013/08/27/additional-payment-turnbull-believes-telstra-will-give-govt-copper/
“Turnbull’s claim that a Coalition Government wouldn’t need to pay Telstra anything at all to buy or gain access to its copper network is, on the face of it, completely ludicrous. Frankly, even the physical copper in the network is worth something, and I have no doubt that many telecommunications industry observers, perhaps most, believe that Telstra will want some recompense for handing over its crown jewels. There’s no such thing as something for nothing, when it comes to Telstra, after all.”
“One final thing I would mention here. If Turnbull’s claim today turns out to be completely inaccurate, and the Coalition’s FTTN policy does indeed require the Government to stump up billions for access to or the purchase of Telstra’s copper infrastructure, I personally will crucify Turnbull in the pages of Delimiter for his mistake. Politicians don’t get to play games with billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money and wave away huge cost blowouts in their policies, without just cause. If Turnbull is wrong on this one, and remember that many industry observers believe he will be, at least to a certain extent, then I will remember that and hold the Liberal MP to account. These are serious matters and deserve serious consideration.”
As for the credibility blown issue … three target downgrades in six months? How, precisely, does that leave NBN Co with any credibility in terms of its forecasts?
Over to you.
I think its time we had a word to your editor Renai. Its so clear now that all this time you’ve been a Laboral shill, and I bet he’d be interested in knowing how biased you’ve been to the Libor ideals behind corporate plans and rollout targets and other such important technology issues…
Really, I wonder how many people who post such rubbish as Camm did are tongue in cheek, or simply new to the site and believing the first thing they read is all they need to go on.
So, given current actual rollout rates, how many more premises would have been connected today if the asbestos problem had *not* turned up?
Thats a great question, but one I’m not really sure can be answered. The answer could be 3, or it could be 300,000. There are a LOT of premises meant to have been passed by… about now actually, that have slipped pretty much bang on 2 months as a result of the asbestos saga.
So rather than be in the June report, they’ll be in the September report, or rather than be in the September report, they’ll be in the December one. By that time, the games changed, but it’ll still look good.
Or, the asbestos really had little effect, with the lost time being used elsewhere and having no great effect on the rollout in reality.
So the answer depends on whats caused the revised target. If it was the asbestos saga, then you’re talking potentially hundreds of thousands, but if it was wildly optimistic goals, you’re talking very little.
If Telstra can delay remediating it’s pits for 6 month why is that ignored, yet etimates that VERY CLEARY make no claim to being a guarnetee, and that depend on a range of factors, reach the status of a devine promise?
It’d be un-Prime Ministerial of me to say eat your heart out to NBN Co, so I won’t!
Wow, just shows the mentality doesn’t it…
Hope that the countries comms network self destructs, simply so that one can poke out the tongue, say told ya and gloat in an election victory.
So please go ahead it, wouldn’t be musch different to any of your previous, obviously subservient, lack of substance (and particularly evidence) comments.
As for the rest of us who are here to discuss rationally/apolitically we look forward to seeing what Malcolm can do, remembering his completed product will be substantially inferior.
I particularly look forward to seeing if he does continue to keep leaning further and further to FttP, to again have a wry grin at those who having previously toed the party line come what may, will then embarrassingly have to admit how FttP is the answer after all… (with all of the but, but, but,… priceless)
I await with bated breath.
You didn’t see KRudd’s speech then? I was only paraphrasing him, take a chill pill Alex!
No I must admit I didn’t, nor did I see Tony’s… So your political in-jokes have fallen on deaf ears here, sorry…
But, as I have always said and that just proves it, I am here strictly with a comms, not political agenda… perhaps you and a few of the other usual suspect node nerds ought to try it, even only once :)
BTW… got any? ;)
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