Comms and Broadband Minister Stephen Conroy appears to have been so concerned over what Opposition comms spokesman Malcolm Turnbull was set to announce re the NBN yesterday that he chose to make an announcement of his own at the same time Turbull was speaking at the National Press Club In Canberra.
What Turnbull proposed was an alternative lower cost national broadband network that would see the scrapping of the current fibre-to-the-premises model in favour of fibre-to-the node.
He promised an incoming Coalition Government would not rip up the fibre lines now being laid by NBN Co, but would make some use of them. It would also look to retain the HFC cable networks of Telstra and Optus.
And it would proceed with the structural separation of Telstra, negotiated between the telco, the Gillard Government and NBN Co, but yet to be approved by shareholders and the ACCC.
As with the NBN, the Turnbull plan would rely on fixed wireless and satellite to deliver services to around 1.5 million Australians living in remote areas
In what appears to be a finely timed event to draw attention away from Malcolm Turnbull’s proposals, the Government yesterday announced plans for NBN Co to deploy fixed wireless services in five states and territories – as well as to hook up more premises to fibre in nine second-release sites.
Comms and Broadband Minister Stephen Conroy said the LTE fixed wireless services – using Ericsson technology – would be deployed in areas surrounding Ballarat; Darwin; Geraldton, WA; Tamworth, NSW; and Toowoomba, Queensland. Users would have peak download speeds of 12MBps, Conroy said.
Earlier in the day Conroy had announced the start dates for construction of the fibre network at nine second-release sites, covering some 50,000 premises.
Read: NBN Co Second Release Reaches 50,000 Premises
Work will commence in Coffs Harbour, NSW, in August; Jamberoo, NSW, in September; Toowoomba, Qld, and Gungahlin, ACT in October; Riverstone, NSW, and Goodna and Springfield Lakes, Queensland, in November; and Aspley, Brisbane metropolitan area, in December.
