Now with Beer Garden for our smoking patrons.
The government will now go it alone, and start a new company to build a $43 billion FTTH network covering up to 92pc of the population! Which will put us right up there with the best of developed countries in terms of broadband access and speeds.
It will create 25,000 jobs per year.... so my advice to you is, if you have any interest in technology and looking for well-paid work in the future, now is the time to get your Network Cabling, Network services certifications.. go do a tafe course or go through an IT training company.
NBN plan scrapped; govt seeks new partners
Mitchell Bingemann | April 07, 2009
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/sto ... 06,00.html
THE federal Government has terminated the tender process for its national broadband network project and will instead look to partners to build a $43 billion fibre to the home network.
A new company, National Broadband Network Corporation, will be created to build the new network. It will be jointly owned by the Government and the private sector, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said.
Mr Rudd said not one of the private bidders for the NBN's request for proposals met the government's requirements.
"None of the bids offered value for money," Mr Rudd said.
"The panel noted the rapid deterioration of the global economy had a significant impact on the process."
Prior to today, the Acacia consortium, comprising wealthy businessmen and telco veterans, had been regarded as frontrunner for the project ahead of Singapore-owned Optus and Canadian telco Axia NetMedia.
Telstra, Australia's largest telco, was expelled from the tender process after it failed to meet government guidelines in December last year.
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said the Tasmanian government's state-based bid for the NBN was still being considered and that negotiations would commence over the next 24 hours to decide a construction timeline. He said it would be likely that the Tasmanian build would commence in July.
The status of the other state-bidder, TransACT, remains unclear.
The NBN's original objectives of rolling out a fibre to the node network to 98 per cent of the population featuring minimum speeds of 12 megabits per second (mbps), will be replaced with a plan to deploy a fibre to the home network that will achieve peak speeds of 100mbps.
The government says the new network will connect 90 per cent of all Australian homes, schools and workplaces with broadband speeds that are 100 times faster than what is currently available.
The remaining 10 per cent of the population will be connected via a mixture of wireless and satellite technologies capable of broadband speeds up to 12mbps.
The network, which Mr Rudd described as the single biggest infrastructure project in Australian history, will be built in partnership with the private sector.
"This will be Australia's first national wholesale, open access network not controlled by Telstra," Mr Rudd said.
Private sector investment in the new network will be capped at 49 per cent.
The new NBN proposal will open the door for Telstra's re-involvement in the project.
"We are inviting all telcos, Telstra included, to be a participant in this network," Senator Conroy said.
The Government's investment in the network of up to $4.7 billion remains unchanged. The network's total cost is expected to be up to $43 billion over eight years, Mr Rudd said.
The Government's investment in the company will be funded through the Building Australia Fund and the issuance of Aussie Infrastructure Bonds, a new instrument.
The Government intends to sell down its interest in the company within five years after the network is built and fully operational, depending on market conditions and national and identity security considerations.
Mr Rudd the project will directly support up to 25,000 local jobs on average every year during the construction period.
