Abbott Thinks 1Gbps NBN Is ‘Utterly Implausible’

 title=Not Bill Gates Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott today spoke up about the NBN announcement this morning that has promised to deliver speeds 10 times what was previously promised. Despite repeated admissions that he’s not a tech head, he has announced that he believes 1Gbps speeds from the NBN are “utterly implausible”.

Abbott said at a conference in Penrith:

“It’s very hard to take seriously a government which suddenly pulls yet another technological rabbit out of a hat just because it’s under enormous pressure in the closing stages of an election campaign.”

“This idea that ‘hey presto’ we are suddenly going to get ten times the speed from something that isn’t even built yet I find utterly implausible.”

While the timing of the 1Gbps announcement is a little cringe-worthy, it’s certainly not unexpected. Fibre is certainly capable of offering 1Gbps peak speeds without any updates – it’s the hardware at the end of the cable that needs to be upgraded to offer those speeds. If NBNCo are installing 1Gbps head ends as they build the network, then the 1Gbps peak speed is not only plausible, but totally realistic.

What’s really interesting about the entire broadband issue i that it’s become the only real point of difference between the two major parties this election. The question of whether or not it will influence voters is still yet to be seen though…