Communications Alliance comments on NBN Co corporate plan

Communications Alliance has stated that the NBN Co Limited Corporate Plan that was released recently provides welcome further detail about this game-changing national project that will become an Australian reality over the coming decade.

Communications Alliance CEO John Stanton said: “Like any corporate plan, the NBN Co document contains many assumptions and variables that can affect the success of the project, but is nonetheless a solid platform for the network rollout.

“The plan highlights that developments in the applications layer will be crucial to the financial viability of the network in its early years, and to the ability of individual Australians and the economy as a whole to derive full benefit from the capabilities of the NBN.

“Government and industry need to continue working to ensure that Australia has access to class-leading applications to drive e-government service take-up and e-commerce expansion in the NBN environment.”

Stanton commented on two other specific elements of the plan:

Battery back-up

Communications Alliance welcomes the indication from the government that it will consult with stakeholders on the question of mandatory battery back-up for the network termination unit (NTU) at customer premises.

Communications Alliance urges the adoption of an ‘opt-in’ regime that would allow consumers who need and want such back-up to receive it.

Stanton said that mandatory provision of batteries to every customer premise is poor policy because it:

• Will not work in many cases (eg, where the customer uses a cordless phone);
• Adds up to $150 million of unnecessary cost to the rollout; and
• Has environmental implications through the insertion into the Australian environment of more than 10 million large batteries - many of which are likely to find their way into landfill once exhausted.

Home-run architecture

Communications Alliance notes that NBN Co will conduct a trial of home-run architecture for ‘greenfield’ sites.

“I hope that NBN Co will not be obliged to use home-run technology, because it does add cost and complexity to the rollout, without offering clear advantages over alternative architectures,” Stanton concluded.