Fate and circumstance has meant there hasn’t been an NBN roundup for the past couple of weeks. But we’re back this week. Here’s what happened!
The week started with Shadow Comms Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s wife resigning her place on the board of Melbourne IT. You know, the company that stood to make Turnbull a lot of money from the NBN. Funny how it only happened after the show and dance in parliament…
Meanwhile Stephen Conroy is looking to the future, flagging a rehash of media regulations thanks to developments such as digital TV and the NBN. It all makes sense, but we really hope Conroy keeps his grubby filter plans to himself.
While Conroy was talking about regulation, others were discussing the oft-demanded and rarely seen NBN Business plan. And proving that the coalition are planning to continue being dicks about the NBN into 2011, Turnbull was quoted this week as saying that even if the numbers add up and the business plan makes complete sense from a financial perspective, he wouldn’t guarantee support: “[I]have seen dozens if not hundreds of business plans that all look fantastic. They can produce a business plan with good numbers in it but that doesn’t guarantee success. There is not one bankrupt business that didn’t start off with a fabulous business plan,” Turnbull announced. It looks like politicians are going to try and ruin everything again next year.
The POI issue has been addressed by the ACCC, who rejected NBNCo’s initial plan for 14 Points of Interconnect, forcing them to redesign their plan to include at least 120 POIs. ISPs are apparently happier with this, although the big ones were hoping for at least 200, apparently.
Finally, The Oz is reporting that it is now unlikely the Telstra NBN deal worth $13.8 billion will hit its deadline. The agreement is still on track, but is unlikely to be signed before the end of the year.