英媒：中国经济放缓令澳大利亚各州担忧衰退
关键字:&澳大利亚中国经济澳大利亚铁矿石澳大利亚铁矿石公司澳大利亚铁矿石价格澳大利亚旅游澳大利亚签证中澳关系
英国《金融时报》16日刊登报道，题为“铁矿石价格下跌，澳大利亚严阵以待中国经济放缓”（作者Jamie Smyth）。观察者网独家翻译如下：
上一次西澳大利亚州（观察者网注：澳大利亚联邦最大的州）和堪培拉闹得这么严重，还要追溯到上世纪30年代经济大萧条引发的危机——当时，西澳大利亚威胁要脱离联邦。
这次的不和则与中国经济增速放缓有关，这也显示了在澳大利亚的财富和北京对其大宗商品的需求之间，有多么紧密的联系。
“这不是要脱离联邦，但确实是关系紧张且各自为战，”西澳大利亚州长科林·巴内特（Colin Barnett）说。因为铁矿石价格下跌，澳大利亚国家预算中出现了一个越来越大的漏洞，但本周，堪培拉和其他州拒绝了西澳大利亚的求援。
铁矿石是炼钢的核心材料，西澳大利亚州是个产矿州，十年来对中国的铁矿石销量呈爆炸性增长。该州拥有必和必拓公司、力拓公司和福特斯库金属集团，这些公司被一些人称为“中国的采矿场”，它们已经花费数百亿美元修建矿井、铁路和港口，并在过去五年把铁矿石产量提高了一倍，达到7.17亿吨。
但是，正当铁矿石的国际供应量达到历史新高，中国的经济增速却在放缓，对铁矿石的需求也进入了停滞不前的状态。自从2011年达到190美元/吨的顶峰，铁矿石价格下跌了超过70%，仅有50美元/吨。这令税收下降，一些小型铁矿石企业被迫关门，成千上万雇员下岗。
“西澳大利亚州是中国经济繁荣的巨大受益者，”德勒经济研究所的经济专家克里斯·理查德森（Chris Richardson）说，“但现在，矿井建设阶段结束，铁矿石产量激增，需求却在下降，西澳大利亚州正在吞食随之产生的苦果。”
2013年，西澳大利亚州失去了3A信用评级。4月14日，标准普尔警告，由于该州的预算问题，可能继续下调其信用等级。
西澳大利亚州表示，如果铁矿石价格停在50美元/吨，将把2015-16年度的预计税收削减30亿美元，这相当于国家预算的12%。
西澳大利亚州的失业率，从铁矿石价格最高时的3.8%升至了5..8%，目前还算安全。虽然悉尼和墨尔本的房价在涨，在西澳大利亚州首府珀斯，房价却开始下跌。
州长巴内特希望，在全国范围内的商品和服务税方面，其他州能为西澳大利亚州分担更多的税收任务，但是堪培拉和其他各州都拒绝了他的请求。17日，澳大利亚各州将会就这场纷争展开讨论。
二十多年来，靠着中国大宗商品需求量的爆发式增长，澳大利亚成功地避免了经济衰退，但是，眼下中国疲软的经济数据却令忧虑加剧：西澳大利亚的问题可能会席卷全国。
铁矿石是澳大利亚出口量最大的商品，2013-14年度的出口额达740亿澳元，铁矿石价格的暴跌已经开始影响联邦预算。11月，堪培拉把预算赤字修改为400亿澳元，GDP增长2.5%，此前，5月的预测值本来是298亿澳元，当时的铁矿石价格跌到了60美元/吨。
从那以后，铁矿石价格持续下跌。本周，澳大利亚财政部长霍奇（Joe Hockey）警告，铁矿石可能跌到35美元/吨，令国家税收减少63.5亿澳元。
澳新银行首席经济学家沃伦·霍根（Warren Hogan）预测：“如果铁矿石价格维持在45美元/吨，出口量保持在目前水平，那么澳大利亚的情况还能稳住。但是，这只是个微妙的平衡，如果铁矿石价格和中国的需求都继续下跌，那就会招致麻烦。”
澳大利亚执政党自由党-国家党联盟(Liberal-National Coalition)下个月将公布的第二份财政预算将事关重大。去年，财长霍奇狠削开支，试图重返预算盈余，但许多改革措施现在仍被国会冻结。澳大利亚央行正在鼓励商业投资，以图改变本国依赖资源出口的经济结构，在这个关头，财政部今年这剂相似的猛药可能会削弱投资者的信心。
“随着中国向消费主导型经济过度，澳大利亚需要加强商业投资，抓住机会，”霍奇表示，“农业、旅游业、教育都是重要领域。”
正在贬值的澳元、逐渐放宽的签证限制都在刺激澳大利亚的入境旅游。截止到去年9月，共有78万9000名中国游客赴澳旅游，比前一年增长10%。澳大利亚的外国游客中，中国游客数量位居第二，仅次于新西兰，但是消费能力位居第一，全年共消费54亿澳元。
遭受了大宗商品价格下跌的冲击后，澳大利亚能否靠这些替代产业得到缓冲还有待观察。
前文提到的经济专家克里斯·理查德森说：“中国不会再给澳大利亚砸钱了。澳大利亚是否准备好进行必要的改革、转型经济，才是要画大问号的实际问题。”
（译/观察者网隆洋）
澳大利亚总理阿博特（资料图）
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&&看完这篇文章有何感觉？已经有人表态
o&最热新闻&o
o&最热评论&oAustralian Prime Minister Julia Gillard (left) and Coalition Leader Tony Abbott (right)
据报道，澳大利亚近日大选陷入僵局，工党和自由党都未能获得众议院多数席位，澳70年来将首次出现没有多数党的“悬空议会”。澳大利亚的命运落入三位独立议员手中。然而，目前三位独立议员都没有明确表示支持工党还是自由党，使大选结果变得更加不确定。请看新华社报道：
Voters have likely delivered Australia its first hung parliament since 1940, which means neither Labor nor the opposition Liberal/National coalition had the outright majority of 76 seats to form government.
The three sitting independent MPs on Monday promised to work as closely together as possible as a political deadlock continues to hang over the country.
—— Excerpt from
deadlock 指的是a situation in which no progress can be made or no advancement is possible，即“僵局”；那么“打破僵局”就要用break a deadlock 来表示；而“陷入僵局”则用reach a deadlock 表示。例：
The negotiations came to a deadlock.
谈判陷入僵局。
He has brought things to a deadlock.
他把事情搞僵了。
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda resigned on Monday in an effort to break a political deadlock, becoming the second Japanese leader to resign abruptly in less than a year.
日本首相福田康夫于本周一宣布辞职以期打破目前的政治僵局，他由此成为一年内第二位突然辞职的日本首相。
“政治僵局”同样可以用political gridlock来表示。例如，去年罗马尼亚大选的相关报道中说道：
Romania has been in a political gridlock since mid-October, when its democrat liberal government was ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament, the first in the 20 years after the fall of the communist regime.
President Traian Basescu failed to win Parliament support for a new prime minister and the country will likely not to have a legitimate government in place before the election runoff scheduled for December 6.
—— Excerpt from
这里用的是 gridlock 的比喻义“瘫痪，僵局”。gridlock 这个词的本义是指极端严重的交通堵塞。例如，英国广播公司在一篇报道里引用新华社的报道说：
The gridlock, which started August 14, involves thousands of trucks between the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the Chinese capital of Beijing.
从内蒙古自治区到中国首都北京，从8月14号开始的严重拥堵困住了成千上万的货车。
英国《金融时报》的报道说：
Many of the vehicles stuck in the gridlock are trucks carrying coal and fruit.
此次拥堵被困的很多都是拉煤和水果的货车。
Motorists have been warned to avoid Brisbane's Story Bridge after a broken down car caused gridlock in the afternoon peak-hour run.
下午高峰时段，司机们被告知绕开布里斯班的故事大桥，一辆故障车导致该段严重堵车。
类似词汇还有standstill（停顿），例如：
Traffic was brought to a standstill by the accident.
出了事故以后，交通陷于停顿。
（来源：）
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Chinglish CornerFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article is about the technologies and rollout of the Australian National Broadband Network. It is not to be confused with the company, .
The National Broadband Network (NBN) is a
and is under development in . It is based on the premise that fixed line and wireless broadband connections are sold to retail service providers (RSP), who then sell
access and other services to consumers. The NBN was subject to political and industry debate for a number of years, before construction actually commenced.
and subsequent change of government from the
to the Liberal/National Coalition prompted a strategic review to be commissioned to determine the ideal infrastructure mix to deliver fast broadband across the country as quickly as possible. The review commenced in October 2013 and is due to report to government in December 2013.
In opposition, the Coalition made clear it expected the technology mix could include Fibre-to-the-Node (FTTN) and Fibre-to-the-Building (FTTB) architectures, existing Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) networks and other privately operated fibre broadband infrastructure, along with the existing NBN Co technologies of Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP), satellite and Long Term Evolution (LTE) fixed wireless. Since taking government, the Coalition has not backed away from these intentions, though Communications Minister
has stated he is "thoroughly open" to whatever recommendations the strategic review of the NBN makes in terms of the best technology infrastructure mix.
The redesigned network is currently estimated by the Liberal National Coalition to cost A$29.5 billion in public funding to construct by 2019. The build cost has been a key point of debate. , a , was established to design, build and operate the NBN, and construction began with a trial rollout in Tasmania in July 2010.
(FTTP) rollout was planned to reach approximately 93% of premises in Australia by June 2021, but following a change of government, it is now expected to reach an unknown percent of the population. This will be represented by a mix of greenfields (new development) areas where it wouldn't be cost effective to lay new copper, as well as some of the brownfields (established neighbourhoods) areas where the existing copper is deemed to be severely affected by ground water or other factors, or simply where the NBN fibre rollout has already advanced to a point where it wouldn't be cost effective to turn back to copper. Most of Australia's copper network is affected by water due to extensive use of faulty gel for insulation in the past.
As of 3 November 2013, construction of the network has passed 354,793 premises and there are 109,862 active customer services. In areas where the Fibre-to-the-Premises network is being rolled out, FTTP will gradually replace the
which is owned by
and currently used for most telephony and data services. As part of an agreement with NBN Co, Telstra will move its customers to the NBN, and lease access to its
space and extensive network ducting to assist in the rollout. A similar agreement with
is in place. However, the new Liberal National Coalition government is currently considering whether these arrangements will continue as part of its strategic review of the NBN.
As of 30 June 2015, The company announced 1,011,973 premises are now able to order NBN services. Of that, 571,527 brownfields and 180,796 greenfields premises are able to order fixed-line services, Communications Minister
said today. An additional 220,917 premises are able to order services in fixed wireless, and 38,743 premises have connected to the interim satellite service.
The FTTP network.
Premises within the FTTP footprint are connected using
over a gigabit
(GPON) giving a peak speed of one gigabit per second. A
cable, known as the "drop fibre", goes from the premises to the street ending at the top of a power pole or in an underground pit. The "drop fibre" cable joins a "local network" which links a number of premises to a splitter in the fibre distribution hub. A "distribution fibre" cable connects the splitter in the distribution hub to a fibre access node, which is linked up to a PoI.
Mike Quigley, CEO of NBN Co, said one of the advantages of a GPON network is the distribution hub requires no electronics. He used an example in the
where a hub was "under water and full of mud" and it continued to function while the fire department used a high pressure hose to clean it. Without electronics, the distribution hub does not require a power supply, nor a battery for power outages. In a GPON network only the local
housing the fibre access nodes and the equipment on premises require a power supply.
The FTTP network architecture chosen by NBN Co comprises a number of replicating modules which is combined to make up the FTTP network. A fibre distribution area includes up to 200 premises linked up to a fibre distribution hub. A fibre serving area module comprises 16 fibre distribution areas, which services up to 3,200 premises.
A fibre serving area comprises 12 fibre serving area module connected to a fibre access node, which services up to 38,400 premises. During the 10-year construction, NBN Co plans to build or lease approximately 980 fibre serving areas, servicing up to 37,632,000 premises. Mike Quigley said the modular design will decrease the construction risk of the NBN and allow continuous improvements in the construction, network design and supply chains.
NBN Co wireless outdoor antenna
Approximately 93 per cent of the population was planned to be serviced with
(FTTP), with the remainder serviced by either fixed wireless or satellite technologies. The FTTP build costs for each premises increases with each percentile in the last 7 per cent, because of a low . The current funding could only achieve approximately 93 per cent FTTP however, the FTTP footprint will be expanded where users or communities are willing to pay the incremental costs of installing FTTP.
NBN Co will deploy a
fixed wireless network covering approximately 4 per cent of the population outside the fibre footprint. The premises in the fixed wireless footprint will be hooked up to an antenna allowing a connection to a w the base station links to a PoI via a backhaul. The 2.3
and 3.4 GHz
will be used to deliver these fixed wireless services. Unlike the mobile networks, only premises can connect to the NBN's fixed wireless network.
The number of premises assigned to each base station will also be limited. Mike Quigley said the limits will ensure users received a "good service" because of the "high[er] ". Users at the edge of the coverage for each base station will receive a peak speed of 12 megabits per second, the speed increases "considerably" moving closer to the base station.
NBN Co is planning to launch two
satellites by 2015, each offering 80 gigabits per second of bandwidth, compared to four to six gigabits per second capacity available from current satellites servicing Australia. In the interim, NBN Co will use existing satellite to provide six megabit per second to a limited number of premises which currently do not have access to broadband speeds. The satellites will be used to bounce signals from a
on the premises to an , known as a "gateway"; the gateway is then connected to a PoI via a fibre backhaul. Mike Quigley said the satellite design was "not easy", because the required coverage is about "five per cent of the world's land mass" containing "at least 200,000 premises" spread across "over 7,000 kilometres" of area between
How RSPs and wholesalers connect to the NBN.
Internet access and other services using the NBN are sold to consumers from a retail service provider (RSP), who connects their network to the NBN at a Point of Interconnect (PoI). Mike Quigley has said the "ubiquity and standardisation" is important in the NBN, he continued RSPs will be able to connect to PoIs "using the same
processes and interfaces, at the same prices and with the same product constructs as far as is possible across all three technology products".
network access is sold to RSPs, with uniform pricing within each of the three technologies regardless of where the service is delivered and across the technologies for the basic package. To provide this uniform pricing, regional and rural areas will be cross-subsidised with the lower cost metropolitan areas. To prevent other potential providers from undercutting NBN Co in metropolitan areas, new fibre networks are required to be open access and c these rules are known as the "anti-cherry picking" provisions, which were passed into law with other NBN legislation.
When completed the NBN will have 121 PoIs available to RSPs. Originally, NBN Co planned for a more centralised model with only 14 PoIs; however, it was overruled by the Federal Government on the advice from the
(ACCC). The ACCC considered the plan to be "" and would have given NBN Co a mo however, NBN Co said centralised model would have allowed smaller RSPs to connect without going through a wholesale aggregator. ACCC recommended 121 Pols after .
criticised the "insane" number of PoIs and after its pricing announcement warned it might have to charge more in regional areas because of the increase costs. In response, Shadow Minister for Communications,
said the "government can't deliver on a crucial promise" of "national uniform pricing"; however, Minister for Communications,
said we "guaranteed uniform wholesale pricing" not retail pricing.
The NBN will use one of the three technologies to connect the RSP and its network to the
(NTD) on premises. The NTD will allow devices to connect the NBN using the Ethernet or
ports. An external source is required to power the NTD, while a battery will supply power for a limited time during power outages. NBN Co will supply a batter however, the end users or their RSP will be responsible for maintenance and replacement of the battery. Mike Quigley said the batteries are the biggest source of complaints from trial users with some users doubting they will ever use the battery. The Federal Government and NBN Co are in talks over the issue. Chinese Telecom manufacturer
were prohibited from bidding by the Australian government
estimated to the
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 is 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
of 7.1%, expecting to turnover revenue of A$23.1 billion by 2021.
Coverage maps can be found on the NBN website .
Some of these areas are "" that have been provided directly by the NBN Co, but many are new "" areas that are new subdivisions that did not have an existing telephone. All greenfield developments must provide fibre, at a cost to the developer (and thus home owner). Most of the brown field areas are near existing exchanges, which presumably already had ADSL. It is still unknown if the existing brown fields developments will get direct fiber(FTTP) due to already having a telephone service and a basic ADSL internet connection. These premises may one day receive FTTN instead of FTTP via their existing copper services.
The NBN Corporate Plan
estimated approximately 13 million premises to be covered by the NBN, 12 million using fibre (FTTP).
In February 2014 the government produced a new
website that provided information about existing access to the internet. It showed that there were 1.6 million premises across Australia which have either no access to fixed broadband or very poor broadband connectivity.
The minister
has said that they would be a somewhat higher priority. However, he has given no explicit direction to the NBN to address them. There is concern that the NBN will continue to focus on areas that already have relatively fast copper broadband, and thus avoid addressing people that have no or very limited broadband for the foreseeable future.In May 2014 then NBN announced that it would be targeting premises that were already serviced with fibre by rival TPG.
As of August 2014, there are at least 43 Retail Service Providers for NBN based services. Fibre and fixed wireless plans start from $25 per month for the lowest tier of 12/1 megabit per second download/upload speeds and $50 for the highest speed tier of 100/40 megabit per second download/upload speeds.
During the development of the NBN, customer uptake is of great interest to all constituents. The table below tra it includes all manners of delivery by the NBN, incl. fibre, satellite and wireless.
Number total active NBN services
This table tracks fibre roll out specifically:
Number premises passed by fibre
Number of active fibre services
 % uptake
March 2013
March 2015
Premises are considered "passed" when “all design, construction, commissioning and quality assurance activities in a FSAM(Fibre Servicing Area Module) have been completed for the Local network and Distribution network”. Certain premises classed as "service class zero" which require extra internal construction such as apartments, town houses, shopping arcades and industrial complexes may not be able to order services, even though their premises has been passed. As of 31 March
premises of the 722,031 premises passed were classed as being "service class zero"—being "the Service Class that applies to a Premises that is not NBN Serviceable for the purposes of the NFAS but is in the footprint of the NBN Co Fibre Network."
NBN Co's stated their usage of "premises passed" was an "accepted industry definition". However, their corporate plan defined "premises passed" as places where "NBN services may be ordered and purchased", causing NBN Co to be accused of 'creative accounting'.
The NBN is facing delays due to a lack of skilled fibre splicers in Australia. Some work had to be re-done due to the inadequate training given to many of the workers.
Delays and health concerns occurred in 2013 when work was stopped for several weeks at a number of sites after
was found in Telstra pits.
After the 2013 election, the former communications minister
conceded that the initial rollout plans were "too ambitious" and that there were delays in implementation.
In April 2014,
newspaper(Murdoch media) judged the NBN rollout in Tasmania, its first location, as "shambolic" and "abysmal".
An agreement with Telstra requires the copper telephone network to be decommissioned in an area 18 months after optic fibre is ready for service. Also new connections must be made to the optic fibre network and not the copper network. In some cases, premises have been left without service due to lengthy delays in establishing NBN connections. Telstra advises the use of the mobile network for phone and internet in these cases.
The trial rollout in Tasmania, including stage one (in red), two (in yellow), three (in green) and fibre "backbones" (in grey).
Tasmania was selected as the first state to begin the rollout of the NBN, based on the Tasmanian Government's "shovel ready" submission to the RFP for the original NBN. A new company, NBN Tasmania (previously Tasmania NBN Co), was formed on 8 April 2009 to build the NBN in Tasmania. The company was planned to be a
between NBN Co,
and the Tasmanian Government. The Tasmanian Government also floated an idea to invest A$12.7 million in Aurora Energy to get access
however, the joint-venture and deal were both cancelled on 9 November 2010 when the negotiations reached an impasse. Although the joint-venture was cancelled, Aurora Energy still plays a role in the construction of the NBN in Tasmania.
The trial rollout in Tasmania comprises three stages. Stage one was announced on July 2009 with the first customers being connected a year later. Stage one included connections to premises in ,
and construction of fibre "backbones" from
to Smithton,
to Midway Point, Midway Point to ,
to Scottsdale and Scottsdale to . On completion of stage one, 4,000 premises were offere 51 agreed to be "NBN Ready" (at no cost), but only 10.9% actually took up the service. As of 6 May 2011, 712 premises have an active service and 11 premises are awaiting service activation by a retail service provider (RSP).
The Tasmanian Parliament passed opt-out legislation on 18 November 2010, to allow NBN Co to install fibre connections to premises unless the property owners explicitly decline the installation. The fibre connection is free, however, if the installation is declined and a connection is ordered at a later date, NBN Co may charge a connection fee. The bill passed the
with the support of all members.
During his
speech, then-
said the take-up rates were "a good early result"; however, he said it was "important to increase the participation rate". In his closing remarks, Bartlett said "[the] NBN in Tasmania is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create jobs and contribute to a new economic direction". In her second reading speech on behalf of the Tasmanian Opposition,
said "the NBN is an important infrastructure", but that "the State Liberals have some concern that the NBN business model seems to rely more and more on eliminating competition and other technologies".
Stages two and three were announced on 21 October 2009 and 1 March 2010, respectively. Approximately 11,150 premises in , , George Town, St Helens, Triabunna,
were included in stage two. Stage three includes approximately 90,000 premises in , ,
and . Stage two will include a trial of expanding the FTTP footprint to areas not included in the initial rollout. The trial will allow individuals and councils to pay the incremental cost of a fibre connection over fixed wireless in order to receive a fibre connection from NBN Co. The costs will include provisioning further space in exchanges and rolling out additional fibre optic cables.
At the time of launch, the
for RSPs were temporarily set at a flat rate of A$300 per premises with no ongoing monthly charges. Mike Quigley said one of the reasons for the flat rate is the
systems was not built to make the process automatic. He continued if NBN Co charged a monthly charge without the systems, it would have been a "very manually intensive process" and not a "sensible proposition". However, RSPs did charge a monthly fee to customers, to cover the cost of the trial.
Of the first 4000 residences in Hobart, only 10.9% have actually taken up a service. However, as part of the agreement with Telstra is to decommission the existing copper network as the NBN becomes available, this is not considered as representative of the ultimate NBN adoption by customers.
The first (in red) and second (in green) release sites of the NBN rollout.
Five areas comprising around 14,000 premises were chosen as the "first mainland sites", each representing rollout challenges the NBN was expecting to face during an Australia-wide rollout, with the first services going live on 19 April 2011. commenced on 17 August 2010,
was the first site to officially launch on 18 May 2011 with 2,900 premises included of which 90% did not opt out for connection. Kiama Downs and
was the second site to officially launch, following Armidale on 29 July 2011. Approximately 2,350 premises were passed, of which 80 per cent did not opt out for installation.
Brunswick had the lowest installation rate at the time of its official 4 August 2011 launch: of the approximately 2,689 premises passed, only 50% opted for installation.
followed Brunswick on 1 September 2011 with approximately 3,100 premises passed and 63 per cent did not opt out for installation.
was the fifth and final "first release site" to officially launch on 16 September 2011 with approximately 940 premises passed and 91 per cent did not opt out for installation.
These figures are for passive installation of a dark fibre to the premises. To activate it residence need to purchase a service from an RSP. Furthermore, following the low take up rates in Tasmania, the government has adopted an opt-out model in which users are assumed to want the service unless they explicitly opt-out. Thus passive installation figures may be quite different from the proportion of residences that actually use the NBN service.
Fourteen second release sites comprising 54,000 premises in all states and territories were announced on 8 July 2010 with construction commencing in August 2011. The sites comprise premises in , , , , , , , , , , , ,
and . Telstra had agreed to allow NBN Co to use its
and ducts in the second release sites before
was finalised.
Construction of the NBN began with a trial rollout in Tasmania, with the first customers connected in July 2010. NBN Co plans to complete the FTTP rollout by June 2021, along with the completion of the fixed wireless and satellite rollout by 2015.
In April 2010, NBN Co began a tender for the major FTTP rollout. Fourteen vendors
however, NBN Co suspended the process on 1 April 2011, as the prices were "unacceptably high". After the suspension, NBN Co entered into an agreement worth up to A$380 million with Silcar on 1 June 2011. The agreement covers the construction of the NBN in Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT by Silcar, a company joint-owned by
and . The agreement also includes the option of a two-year extension with an additional value of A$740 million.
and 3.4 GHz
will be used to provide
covering approximately 4 per cent of the population outside the fibre footprint. NBN Co bought spectrum from
for A$120 million in February 2011, with the remaining spectrum covering areas in , the , , outback
were bought on 13 July 2011 for A$1.3 million in an auction by the . NBN Co said the spectrum bought from Austar and in the auction covers "all the geographic coverage it needed" to build its fixed wireless network.
NBN Co signed an initial 12-month contract on 1 June 2011 with
to design, build and operate the network with options to extend the contract for up to 10 years at a total cost of A$1.1 billion. Construction will commence in 2011, with the first five locations announced as the regional and rural communities surrounding , , ,
and . The first services are scheduled to begin in 2012 and completion in 2015.
While the planning continues on the two satellites due to launch by 2015, NBN Co has launched interim satellite services on 1 July 2011, providing up to six . Due to the limited satellite capacity, these services were given to customers who did not have access to alternative "metro comparable" services, similar to the Federal Government's Australian Broadband Guarantee (ABG) program which ended on 30 June 2011. The criteria for alternative "metro comparable" services were minimum data speeds of at least 512 , a 3GB per month
and a total price to the end customer of no more than A$2,500 over three years. To provide these services NBN Co bought managed satellite services and satellite capacity from Optus for $200 million and additional satellite capacity from IPstar for A$100 million.
NBN Co has contracted
to build and launch two
satellites in 2015 at a total cost of A$2 billion, each offering eighty gigabits per second of bandwidth.
Following the election, the new communications minister
has announced immediate changes to the government's NBN plans: much of the NBN Board
was appointed new Chairman. Turnbull announced that the FTTP rollout would continue in the short term, with the probability that rollout will be downgraded to "alternative technologies" such as
after a 60-day review was completed.
Telstra responded to the prospect of changes by asserting its intention to retain the $11bn value it generates from the previous government's deal.
On 12 December 2013, the NBN Board appointed Bill Morrow as NBNCo's new CEO, replacing Mike Quigley. Mr. Quigley had announced his intention to resign from NBNCo in July 2013. Morrow resigned from his role as CEO of Vodafone Australia to accept the appointment with NBNCo.
In a report released on 22 January 2003 the Howard government’s Broadband Advisory Group (BAG) recommended the Federal Government work with other governments and industry stakeholders to form a "national broadband network". A subsequent
recommend the Federal Government replace the "increasingly obsolete" copper network with a new network based on
(FTTN) or alternative technologies.
On 15 November 2005 Telstra, the owner of the national copper network, announced a plan to upgrade its ageing networks, including a rollout of a
(FTTN) network. At the time, the Federal Government was the majority shareholder of Telstra, but the plan did not involve any additional government investment. The rollout was later put on hold after the Howard Government refused to exempt the new network from laws requiring third party access, instead saying Telstra could achieve the exemption by applying to the , the
(ACCC). Telstra dropped plans for the new network on 7 August 2006, after reaching an impasse in negotiations with the ACCC. Former ACCC chairman, Graeme Samuel later said the proposal was "an illusion on cost and on the capacity to truly deliver high-speed broadband to end users".
In June 2006 the Broadband Connect policy was announced by the Howard Government with an aim of providing greater access to broadband services in rural and regional areas.
—a 50–50 joint venture between Optus and —was announced on 18 June 2007 as the sole successful bidder in . However, on 2 April 2008 Communications Minister
of the then recently elected Rudd Government, terminated the agreement because OPEL had "failed to meet the terms of [the] contract".
Nine telecommunications companies—, , , , , , ,
and , formerly known as —proposed its own FTTN network on 20 April 2007, however, it was rejected by the ACCC on 17 December 2007 because of future unknown conditions for access.
In the run-up to the , opposition Labor party leaders announced a Labor Government would build a "super-fast" national broadband network, if elected.
The network was 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. After the election, the new Labor Rudd Government issued a request for proposals (RFP) to build the NBN, and six proposals were submitted by , ,
on behalf of ,
(covering their respective states only), as well as .
Telstra’s submission was later excluded leading to warnings that if the project were to go ahead, Telstra would be entitled to compensation estimated at A$15–20 billion With the other bidders neither able to meet the government's requirements nor able to raise the necessary capital during the , the RFP was terminated on 7 April 2009.
After terminating its initial RFP, the Rudd Government announced it would bypass the existing copper network by constructing a new national network combining
technologies.
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,
was established on 9 April 2009 and Mike Quigley was appointed chief executive officer on 25 July 2009, An implementation study was commissioned in April 2009 and released on 6 May 2010 by the Rudd Government.
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 released its business plan on 20 December 2010, including forecasts and network design. A number of changes were made as part of NBN Co’s business plan, including an increase in the peak speed to one gigabit per second, in response to
and giving "priority" to regional and rural areas during the rollout following the events after the .
The Parliament passed the National Broadband Network Companies Act 2011 and a related bill on 28 March 2011 with amendments by the Greens and independent senators adopted on 26 March 2011. The amendments centred around transparency, freedom of information and competition concerns, including the adoption of uniform national wholesale prices for NBN connections. The Government has required support from the Greens to pass NBN legislation through the Parliament. The Greens have voted in favour of NBN legislation, but have also won support for amendments that make NBN Co subject to
laws, and that make any proposal to privatise the NBN subject to review by the Parliament and by the .
The Government has also required the support of other independent and minor party members and senators for NBN legislation. Independent senator
also supported NBN legislation in the upper house, but only after the government agreed to release a summary of NBN Co's business case.
for access to ' this infrastructure is used by NBN Co.
NBN Co signed a definitive agreement with Telstra on 23 June 2011 estimated to be worth A$9 billion post-tax , Building upon the signing of a financial
a year beforehand. Instead of separating, Telstra agreed to "disconnect" its Internet customers from the copper and
networks in areas where FTTP has been installed, and agreed to lease , exchange space and ducts to NBN Co. Apart of the agreement, Telstra would not be able to market their mobile network as an alternative to the NBN for a number of years.
This clause is similar to the one in the agreement with Optus over its hybrid fibre-coaxial network estimated to be worth A$800 million post-tax net present value. The ACCC—whose approval is required before both agreements take effect—raised concerns about the clauses being anti-competitive. Both Telstra and Optus would remain the owner of their respective networks. On 18 October 2011, Telstra shareholders overwhelmingly approved the deal.
Since its announcement, the NBN has received both criticism and praise from politicians, telecommunication companies, businesses and the public. The
initially described the NBN as a "dangerous delusion" and "a
on a massive scale"; instead advocating a policy focused on filling "gaps" in the current copper networks where "commercial solutions were not always viable".
said the NBN mirrors a proposal released by their , saying it "delivers a strategic infrastructure outcome" and it is "vitally important that the [NBN] gets to the corners of our country where the market has failed". The
said the NBN "is a key piece of 21st century infrastructure". Independent MPs , ,
have expressed support for the NBN. Bob Katter said the NBN is "a great thing for this country". Tony Windsor said the NBN is "too good an opportunity to miss".
said the NBN will "bring [Australia] up to speed".
Telecommunication companies , , , and , have expressed support for the project, along with the Australian Internet Industry Association, which said optical fibre solutions are "a critical part in the evolution of the internet". Internode managing director
said he was "glad [the NBN is] going to go ahead". Vodafone-Hutchison CEO Nigel Dews said the NBN will “transform the competitive landscape”. However, other telecommunications companies including ,
have expressed opposition to the NBN. AAPT chief executive
said the NBN will "stifle competition". PIPE Networks founder Bevan Slattery said the NBN is "economically irresponsible". Exetel chief executive John Linton described the NBN as a "political stunt".
have expressed their support for the NBN. Google's head of engineering, Alan Noble, said the NBN will "be the greatest enabler of innovation". Intel managing director Philip Cronin said "the NBN has the potential to deliver significant long term benefits". The
conducted a survey of Australian Internet usage for the
between September 2009 and October 2009. The survey of 1,000 people asked about Internet usage and how it influences daily life. A question was included asking if the NBN was a "good idea"; 74.5 per cent agreed. In the survey, the NBN had stronger support among younger people and Internet users.
The size of the government investment in the NBN has been a key point of debate. The
called for a , describing the NBN as "a white elephant on a massive scale". The
(EIU) criticised the NBN as a "huge cost to the public sector",
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