Aged 19 and hating the NBN

Being in Generation Y and not wanting with the NBN has so far made me an outsider amongst people of my age. The advent of super-fast broadband has become for my contemporaries the greatest gift any government could give them.

As a student of politics and a keen reader of economics, the NBN really didn’t resonate as highly with me as it did for my friends. Whenever I make my opinion known among them, I was told that I was being elitist.

Why is NBN so tantalising a policy for young people? The answer is Mum and Dad will pay for it, and I will be able to play, download movies and see friends’ facebook photos faster than ever before. Of course this is exciting and even I can see the appeal, but it’s no wonder the NBN was adored by my Generation. And the adore it despite the fact that it will be Government owned, expensive and deliver nothing substantial to Australian battlers.

The fact that the NBN was to be a nationalised corporation should have had alarm bells ringing. The private sector would have provided the equivalent service, albeit later rather than sooner. This does not fly with Gen Y. We are the Now Generation. The desire for downloads completing now is the same desire for super fast broadband now.

When the NBN finally comes online, Australians will have one choice when it comes to broadband. What complicates the matter further is that as Labor becomes increasingly steered by the Greens, the chances of the NBN ever being privatised become smaller and smaller. If anything, this should be the greatest fear of the Australian people, especially those who praise the Internet as the greatest platform for free speech. There can be no greater a dissonance than the Government owning the Internet.

The Internet is the technological equivalent of a perfect free market: there is no regulation. The details of Stephen Conroy’s Internet filter are frighteningly sketchy at best – a worrisome prospect. Julian Assange would have found it very difficult to leak any cables if the Internet was controlled by the very Government he sought to incriminate. Young people cannot see the connection between “Government owned” and “inefficiency”; we’re too young to remember Telstra being the only telecommunications company in Australia.

We want our iPhones to be faster. We want the Government to make this happen. Generation Y cannot comprehend how much extra tax they’ll have to pay because of the NBN. And I say that because an age group that largely doesn’t pay much tax currently, finds the idea of more tax hard to fathom. Tony Abbott’s slogans wash off us, seen as the banal and cranky mutterings of a conservative who mispronounces modem.

The fact remains that private enterprise will always be superior to publicly owned utilities at delivering services. This member of Generation Y will not entertain any statements to the contrary. Friends of mine who retort “But corporations only care about profits” have completely missed the point. The profit-motive is the precise reason why the NBN should be privatised sooner rather than later. It will ensure quality of service and most importantly, constant improvement of facilities to compete with other companies.

There is no guarantee that the publicly owned NBN will endeavour to improve its services. Competition will not be an issue because there simply won’t be any. If or when the NBN is privatised, there will still be a single company owning all of the optic fibre in Australia.

The apparrent benefits of the NBN for regional Australia, lower income erners and education becomes the argument Gen Y uses to try and sound mature, as if they really care about people who can't afford broadband. Contrary to popular belief, the NBN will do absolutely nothing to improve the quality of life of the average Australian.

It is not plausible to suggest that rural families who cannot afford to send their children to superior boarding schools, will be able to afford a private tutor communicating with their child via live video feed (all day, mind you), using an expensive form of high speed broadband. This is the deluded fantasy of this shoddy Labor Government that will never be realised. If hospitals require a faster transferral of large information, which obviously is in the best interest of the patient, then the Government should absolutely upgrade those facilities. Yes, that would cost a considerable amount of money, but not anywhere near $43 billion.

Labor’s assessment of people’s “need” for super fast broadband is misguided and hugely irresponsible. Gen Y have swallowed the propaganda as expected and voted for the broadband. Spending $43 billion, in a now unarguably two-speed economy, when our country has been hit with two devastating natural disasters, is a wasteful depravity committed against the Australian public.

Thomas De Angelis is a 19 year old Law Student from the University of Notre Dame

 

Comments

[:-O]

1.

"The profit-motive is the precise reason why the NBN should be privatised sooner rather than later. It will ensure quality of service and most importantly, constant improvement of facilities to compete with other companies"... Ridiculous! I guess you have never been a customer of Vodafone or 3. Where I live, I have two choices: to go wireless and beat my fist against the wall while a simple 5 minute task turns into a 45 minute headache or ADSL2, where Telstra is the only company that services my area and I get overcharged and get the fun of talking to a customer care representative that doesn't understand English... Bring on the NBN!!!!!

[Georgina]

2.

What an intelligent young lad. Most people find that their broadband is fast enough but as Thomas said the young rely on their parents to pay an enormous (and it will be enormous) for them to download movies, games and the like - very intelligent. Yes Thomas Gen Y have swallowed the propaganda. "Spending $43 bln (and it is estimated that it could cost $20 bln more and is in trouble with NBN Co exectuves keavubg) when our country has been hit with two devasting disasters is a wasteful depravity committed against the Australian public." Your friends will not be very happy when they find that they and their parents will not be able to afford the increased cost of living. Your article is so true and thank goodness there are young folk like yourself with some sense and insight. Congratulations.

[Georgina]

3.

:-0 My broadband comes on in 2 seconds. You are with the wrong company evidently. I have wireless and it is excellent If you find you are overcharged you should turn to Telstra You say you will be overcharged - yo uwill find you will be overcharged by the NBN the way it is going. Perhaps you have not heard of the hiccups the NBN is having. NBN will never be privatised and the cost has been blown out to such an extent, nobody will want it. By the time it is in operation, if it ever gets there with the heads of NBNCo opting out, technology will be changed in any case.

[Georgina]

4.

:-O Just a correction - If you find you would be overcharged by Telstra, you should take it further rather than talking to someone who does not understand what you are saying. I have found that things can be achieved by consistent pressure on the heirarchy.

[Vikas Nayak]

5.

I dont know where people get the myth that our telecommunications sector is a free market. It really isn't. All ISP's are licensed and regulated by ACMA and something called the RTIRC (Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee) which sets the data pricing rate in the country which after the Telecommunications Act of 2010 will place the ACCC in charge of that as of july 2011.

In addition to that various legislations from the Telecommunications Act 2005 (Pricing and Regulations) sets forth conditions forcing ISP's to cross subsidise regional telecommunications by putting up the costs in the city.

I must admit, im surprised a law student didnt look into the regulatory statutes of the industry before writing the article promoting the virtues of the free market.

Not to say the NBN is nessesarily better, but the system right now is set up that the public purse takes the hit on losses in telecommunications while the ISP's take the profit. I dont see how promoting that status quo is "Free market".

[Paul]

6.

"It is not plausible to suggest that rural families who cannot afford to send their children to superior boarding schools"

That is absolute garbage! "Superior boarding schools," according to whom? The pampered little private school kids who attend them or their pretentious parents who pay for them?

[Tectonic shift]

7.

Telstra, privately owned by Institutions & Mums & Dads,could have been a worthwhile player if only the Govt. were patient & prepared to consult & negotiate an improved broadband network.
Instead Rudd & Conroy, both decided they would do the bullying instead. Plain & simple the birthing of their NBN was no more,no less,than petulance of the worst kind.
Their PLAN was a copy book Mafia tactic. REVENGE & PAYBACK !
Conroy paid McInsey & Assoc.$20 million to report & to tell him exactly what he wanted to hear. That a fibre network was desirable & feasible.
It did not matter what the all-up cost was going to be as long as it ruined Telstra. We would never have had this monster in our midst if the Productivity Commission were allowed to do the cost/benefit analysis.Never in the history of mankind has a Government owned & run business been a commercial sucess.
What started out as a pie in the sky is fast turning into a pig in a poke. The cunning & intrasigence of Conroy is stunning. The man,like Rudd,is a megalomaniac.
No other Nation has or intends to implement an entirely fibre network. By excluding a wireless option,it is breathtakingly stupid.
This is happening on the tide of a whim and on the back of the biggest egos. Whether people connect to the network or not,ultimately the Govt. will make them pay a price.
This not a Govt.of the people,by the people for the people. This Govt.is all about the Power & the Glory.

[Vikas Nayak]

8.

Hong Kong (not a country, but principality), South Korea, Japan and Finland has government built FFTH networks.

[Richo]

9.

"Why is NBN so tantalising a policy for young people? The answer is Mum and Dad will pay for it, and I will be able to play, download movies and see friends’ facebook photos faster than ever before."

You have hit the nail on the head Tom with the comment they like it because someone else will pay for it.

My major concern with the NBN is the uptake of 70% they will need to recover costs. At best this is highly ambitious and at worst they are dreaming.

Many Gen Y's (including myself) like the flexibility and cheap costs of wireless dongles. I and many others are willing to forego faster speeds for cheaper costs.

There is no doubt the NBN will be of enormous benefit to some areas of the community, particular those in rural and remote areas.

However the average person does not get as excited about the fast speeds as the "techos" do.

A predicted price of around $54 a month for the NBN would put a lot of people off. After all for the average person, there is little incentive to spend the extra dosh so you can download porn in 10 seconds compared to the current 30 seconds through existing technology.

My guess is the uptake rate will be considerably less than 70% and the government will be left with a white elephant.

[Delang]

10.

I would say that the myschool website plus any school ranking system would support that statement, champ.

[:-O]

11.

I have tried four different providers of wireless internet to find out that in my area, they are all useless...I don't want faster internet, I want reliable internet. I happen also happen to be one of those apparently rare members of Gen Y that pay tax, pay for my own internet and I am in favour of the NBN... shock horror.

[Anton]

12.

Actually, Telstra may have done quite well out of the NBN so far. They have sold a lot of aging and deteriorating copper cable to the taxpayer, and now have the cash to roll out wireless internet.

So cute you could almost think conspiracy

[Tectonic shift]

13.

I hope the Board of Telstra are working on a cunning plan!
There would be nothing better than 'trench' warfare!
Sadly....Conroy's pay out to Telstra would include lots of small print which would disallow them any competition.
The only way in which we could have an interesting outcome is if Telstra's shareholders say NO to Conroy's offer.

[Anton]

14.

Like any other performance feature, internet speed displays a diminishing marginal utility. Mobility is already the primary concern for many users, including the iPhone generation and traveling workers.

For a private company risking their own (shareholder's) funds, wireless speed and coverage present a far better return on investment than fixed lines. But then Conroy is not playing with his own money.

We the taxpayers will be paying long and hard for this display of socialist stupidity.