Rural Australia loves the NBN (but might not want towers), the Coalition hates the NBN (but might secretly love it) and NBN Co is going to update some Tasmanian infrastructure — but only if they can find it on inaccurate maps. All this and more in this week’s roundup of NBN news.
• The slower-than-expected rollout of NBN services has been a huge political sticking point. It emerged this week that a large part of the problems that NBN Co had encountered relating to apartment blocks was due to dodgy address data. [ITNews]
• Once Telstra’s structurally separated, it’ll be in the same boat as other telcos when it comes to negotiating with NBN Co. The Federal Government sees this as a good thing, arguing that it’ll help to keep the ACCC out of negotiations except in the most extreme cases. [ZDNet]
• What exactly is the Coalition’s NBN policy? It’s becoming more clear that the Liberal party sees some votes in the NBN — albeit an NBN under their vision. [AFR]
• Coalition policy on the NBN has variously called for it to be scrapped as a white elephant or integrated into a mix of wireless and FTTN solutions. NBN Co boss Mike Quigley’s warned this week that, because the NBN plan calls for it to be sold off once complete, it’d be very hard to find a buyer for a patchwork solution. [SMH]
• AusBBS, the first “new” NBN ISP, selected Nextgen’s NBN Connect for provision of its voice and data services. [ITWire]
• Golden Plain Shire has rejected NBN Co’s proposal to build a telecommunications tower at Napoleons, south of Ballarat on the basis that it produced an unacceptable visual and amenity impact. [SMH]
• That knockback puts Golden Plain Shire against the general rural mood regarding the NBN, where a review body concluded this week that rural Australia is “strongly” in favour of the NBN. [Delimiter]
• Tasmania was the launch site for the NBN, and the place where a lot of trial technology was tested. The cost of updating some of that technology? $1.3 million, according to this week’s budget estimates hearing. [ZDNet]
• eHealth is often touted as an NBN advantage, although there’s bickering on both sides as to how much faster broadband would impact actual medical outcomes. A study conducted by the University of Melbourne suggests that it’ll not only lower the cost of aged care services, but also the demand for them as well. [ITWire]
• Faster internet also means faster cybercrime; with one expert stating that the National Broadband Network could lead to a marked increase in DDoS attacks coming from Australia. [ZDNet]