One of the things that a lot of Australian business visa holders have been following closely in the last few months is the development of the national Broadband Network. Being Australia's biggest information technology investment, this one would certainly be something. And with a lot of businesses depending heavily on information technology, the project will certainly have a huge effect on the country's economy.
It should be noted that the NBN was proposed way back in 2007, under the term of then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Actual construction of the network was begun in 2008. In August of this year, the notwork was officially introduced to the public with the launch of the Tasmanian section of the network, attended by no less than current Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
One of the biggest goals of the network is to provide fat internet connections to both commercial and residential customers. This the network achieved through a connection speed of around 1 Gbps (gigabit per second). The project is also expected to service more than 93 percent of all households in the country once it becomes fully operational.
However, despite all the seemingly great things that the network is set to offer, it was still not able to escape from questions. In fact, during much of the early stages of the project, there has already been several points raised against its further development. And while it has already been officially launched., there are still a lot of groups who are still not convinced that it will be worth all the effort put into it.
One of the major concerns of many groups is the cost of the project. The development of the NBN is expected to cost the Australian federal government around $ 40 billion within the next few years. Some groups have even said that it would have been better if the government has instead pursued the development of a backbone network that they estimate would cost only around $6 billion.
However, the federal government said that the network is necessary in order to further boost the country's information technology infrastructure. Federal officials also said that taxpayers will also benefit greatly on the development of the NBN. Gillard herself said that, through the business plan that is set to be implemented for the management of the network, taxpayer investment will be repaid in significant amounts.
With the National Broadband Network now beginning to be operational, there will likely be more questions with regards to it. And many will be waiting whether it will be able to deliver its promise.
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