Michael Safi theguardian.com, Thursday 10 April 2014
Government drops fibre-to-the-premises delivery without doing a cost-benefit analysis of new version
The minister for communications, Malcolm Turnbull. Photograph: Joosep Martinson/Getty Images
The federal communications minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has directed the company building the national broadband network to begin using the Coalition’s preferred mixed-technology model, despite a cost-benefit analysis of the model yet to report.
The departure from Labor’s fibre-to-the-premises model was widely expected, but Turnbull had been critical of Labor for implementing its plan without assessing its costs and benefits.
The direction is contained in a revised statement of expectations to NBN Co, which Turnbull announced to the CommsDay summit on Wednesday morning.
“The government has considered the NBN Co Strategic Review’s report of December 12, 2013, and agrees that the NBN rollout should transition from a primarily fibre-to-the-premises model to the ‘optimised multi-technology mix’ model the review recommends,” it said.
When asked why the government was not waiting for the cost-benefit analysis before committing NBN Co to the new model, Turnbull said the company “had got to get on”.
“It doesn't mean there won't be a change to [the model],” he said. “There have been a number of statement of expectations already.
"In this statement of expectations, the key point is you have the freedom to use the mix of technologies that suits the particular locations.”
The cost-benefit analysis, led by former senior public servant Michael Vertigan, was announced in September last year, and is due to report by the middle of this year.
Turnbull later tweeted: “We are committed to a CBA [cost-benefit analysis] for NBN and the Vertigan Panel has that in hand. If the CBA warrants changes to the SoE [statement of expectations], it can be revised. SoE has been revised several times and will no doubt be revised in future, but am sure flexible approach to tech will always make sense.”
A strategic review of the NBN, commissioned by the Abbott government and released in December last year, recommended that Labor’s pure fibre-to-the-premises delivery model be scrapped in favour of a variety of technologies, including fibre to the node, hybrid fibre coaxial and copper, depending on what is most cost-effective in each area.
The Coalition’s plan will see the NBN completed about four years earlier than Labor’s model, and cost $32bn less, but deliver substantially slower speeds.
Labor’s spokesman for the NBN, Jason Clare, said: “It takes a special kind of arrogance to attack the last government for making decisions without a cost-benefit analysis and then do exactly the same thing yourself.”
Malcolm Turnbull directs NBN Co to use mixed-technology model | World news | theguardian.com
