computer science

History of the National Broadband Network

History of the National Broadband Network is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand History of the National Broadband Network rather than just read about it. In short: The National Broadband Network had its origins in 2006 when the Federal Labor Opposition led by Kim Beazley committed the Australian Labor Party, if elected to government to a 'super-fast' national broadband network. Initial attempts to engage key businesses in Australian telecommunications in planning and development; and implementation and operation failed with NBN Co being set up in 2010 to have carriage of the '…

Key takeaways

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Reference excerpt

The National Broadband Network had its origins in 2006 when the Federal Labor Opposition led by Kim Beazley committed the Australian Labor Party, if elected to government to a 'super-fast' national broadband network. Initial attempts to engage key businesses in Australian telecommunications in planning and development; and implementation and operation failed with NBN Co being set up in 2010 to have carriage of the 'largest infrastructure' project in Australia's history. Completion of the project is anticipated to be in the early 2020s.

2006–2007

Pre-2007 federal election On 11 August 2005 Sol Trujillo, the newly appointed CEO of Telstra, gave his first presentation, "The Digital Compact & National Broadband Plan: Enabling Regulatory Reform" to both the Howard government and select investors. Australian Securities Exchange continuous disclosure rules forced the presentation to be shared with all investors, published on Telstra & ASX sites. This is one of the earliest uses of "National Broadband Plan", the origin of the $4.7 billion of Government equity to build a 12 Mbit/s FTTN NBN, "94% Rural" and "99% Urban". There were two other proposed options, for 6 Mbit/s for $2.6B and 1.5 Mbit/s for $1.1B. [PDF page 47 of TLS-339, pg 15 of "National Broadband Plan" slides.] The opposition Labor Party proposed that if elected, it would commence the construction of a 'super fast' national broadband network (NBN). The initial proposal would see fibre to the node (FTTN) technology for 98% of Australian households with a minimum speed of 12 Mbit/s, and the remaining 2% would "have improved broadband services". The network was initially estimated to cost A$15 billion including a government contribution of A$4.7 billion which would be raised in part by selling the Federal Government's remaining shares in Telstra. The Howard government's $2 billion broadband plan would see regional areas to get WiMAX wireless and ADSL2+ broadband. At no cost to the tax-payers, the private sector would tender to build a FTTN broadband network in built-up areas capable of delivering internet speeds of up to 50 Mbit/s.

2007 Federal election The Labor Party won the November 2007 federal election, and the Rudd government was sworn into office on 3 December. Soon afterwards, Senator Stephen Conroy announced the newly elected government's commitment to building a national high-speed broadband FTTN network.

2008

Initial Request for Proposal Request for Proposal (RFP) to build the NBN issued, compliant proposals were received from Acacia, Axia NetMedia, Optus on behalf of Terria, TransACT and the Government of Tasmania (covering their respective states only), a non-compliant proposal was received from Telstra and they were excluded from consideration. There were suggestions that if the project were to go ahead, Telstra's exclusion could lead to them being entitled to compensation estimated at A$15–20 billion. Bidders who lodged compliant proposals were neither able to meet the government's requirements nor able to raise the necessary capital during the Great Recession, the RFP was terminated on 7 April 2009.

2009 After terminating its initial RFP, the Rudd Government announced it would bypass the existing copper network by constructing a new national network combining fibre to the premises (FTTP), fixed wireless and satellite technologies. The FTTP rollout was planned to reach approximately 93% of premises in Australia by June 2021. For each percentage point of coverage above 93%, FTTP build costs become prohibitive because of a low population density. However, the FTTP footprint could be expanded where users or communities were willing to pay the incremental costs of installing FTTP. The FTTP rollout was to gradually replace the copper network then owned by Telstra and used for most telephone and data services. As part of an agreement with NBN Co, Telstra was to move its customers to the NBN, and lease space in its telephone exchanges and access to its extensive network ducting. Tasmania was selected for a trial deployment based on the Tasmanian Government's submission to the RFP. At the same time, the federal government threatened to force a structural separation of Telstra.

Initial expected cost and payback The Rudd Government estimated to the capital expenditure of the project initially to be A$43 billion. NBN Co later revised down the cost in its business plan to A$37.4 billion. The project was to be financed by a combination of a Federal Government investment of A$30.4 billion and private investment for the remainder. NBN Co intends to begin paying dividends back to the Federal Government in 2021, and to have fully repaid the Government's contribution by 2034. NBN Co's business plan forecasts a return on investment of 7.1%, expecting to turnover revenue of A$23.1 billion by 2021.

NBN Co set up NBN Co was established on 9 April 2009. Mike Quigley was appointed chief executive officer on 25 July 2009.

2010 An implementation study was commissioned in April 2009 and released on 6 May 2010 by the Rudd Government. McKinsey & Company and KPMG concluded the NBN can be implemented and made 84 recommendations in the study, including expanding the fibre footprint to 93 per cent from the original 90 per cent.

NBN Co Request for tender (RFT) (April 2010) In April 2010, NBN Co began a tender for the major FTTP rollout. Fourteen vendors submitted a proposal; however, NBN Co suspended the process on 1 April 2011, as the prices were 'unacceptably high'.

Abbott and Turnbull rejection of NBN (July–October 2010) Tony Abbott, as Leader of the Opposition, and Malcolm Turnbull, as Shadow Minister for Communications, indicated in 2010 that they would 'demolish' the NBN. They argued that the demand for such a service was not significant, and thus the estimated cost was too high and the timeline for implementation too long.

First customers (July 2010) The first customers connected in July 2010.

2010 election (21 August 2010) 3 days before the election, at the 2010 Charles Todd Memorial Oration of the Australian Computer Society, Mike Quigley attacked the Coalition broadband proposals in breach of the Caretaker conventions 2010 Australian federal election with the election of the minority Gillard government led to priority being given to regional and rural areas. Also an increase in the peak speed to one gigabit per second was announced in response to Google Fiber

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Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with History of the National Broadband Network

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what History of the National Broadband Network claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to History of the National Broadband Network before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about History of the National Broadband Network ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of History of the National Broadband Network

In research: History of the National Broadband Network appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses History of the National Broadband Network in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: History of the National Broadband Network is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Abbott government, Economic history of Australia, History of telecommunications, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for History of the National Broadband Network outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study History of the National Broadband Network in 20 minutes

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Frequently asked questions

What is History of the National Broadband Network in simple terms?

Why does History of the National Broadband Network matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study History of the National Broadband Network?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on History of the National Broadband Network.