The UK Economist Intelligence Unit has produced a report that reveals that the proposed cost of the National Broadband Network (NBN) is up to 24 times more expensive than a similar network that was rolled out in South Korea who are credited with having one of the fastest broadband networks in the world.The research from the Economist Intelligence Unit published today shows Australia is spending an estimated 7.6 per cent of annual government budget revenues on its broadband network.
A spoksperson for Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has said that comparing Australia to Korea is “like comparing apples to oranges”.
The Opposition claimed the research vindicated its position that the NBN was a waste of public funds.
“In South Korea, by comparison, the government is spending less than 1 per cent of annual budget revenues to realise its broadband goals, achieving targets by encouraging the private sector to invest in the country’s broadband future,” the Economist Intelligence Unit said in a statement.
The Opposition seized on the report, with its communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull saying that the Economist Intelligence Unit had “joined the long list of expert observers, both international and local, who are utterly dismayed by the reckless spending of the Gillard government on the NBN”.
“The study confirms, yet again, that this NBN project should be the subject of a rigorous cost benefit analysis by the Productivity Commission.”
