Abstract
The case for additional broadband capacity in Australia is compelling. Broadband allows and promotes the next order of magnitude change in the way we do business and live. It is no longer just about communications, if it ever was. FTTN is the only currently available working technology capable of delivering vastly greater capacity. Mobile can help with the last mile and in sparsely populated areas but cannot take the place of fibre in areas that require massively high throughput. FTTN will be seen in retrospect as the most fundamentally important piece of physical economic infrastructure built in Australia in the twenty-first century. We need a resolution of the policy, regulatory and business issues about FTTN yesterday. If the new government wants an agreement on building FTTN infrastructure before the next election, it will need to negotiate with Telstra.
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