National Broadband Network (NBN)

  • NBN subcontractors demand fair rates

    The Communication Workers Union led a rally of independent contractors outside Service Stream’s office in Naarm/Melbourne, protesting the company’s proposed 20–30% rate cuts for subcontractors. Kalindi Salvo Sampson reports.

  • Telstra targets ‘upgraded’ NBN

    The corporate vultures are circling the ailing National Broadband Network after the federal government said it will spend money on it. Jim McIlroy argues it should not be readied for sale but stay in public hands.

  • Turnbull's NBN: slow, expensive, delayed

    “Turnbull's NBN in crisis”, blared the front-page headline in the February 29 issue of The Sydney Morning Herald. "Malcolm Turnbull's cut-price National Broadband Network is facing mounting delays and rising costs, according to a damning internal report obtained by Fairfax Media," the article said. Fairfax revealed that the report, labelled “commercial in confidence” and “for official use only”, details a litany of problems in delivering the Coalition's supposedly more budget-friendly fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) model.

  • Malcolm Turnbull: 'Australia's worst ever communications minister'

    “When it comes to technology policy, [now Prime Minister] Malcolm Turnbull has been a disaster. The Member for Wentworth will be remembered as Australia's worst ever Communications Minister — the man who single handedly demolished the NBN [National Broadband Network] and put a polite face on draconian Data Retention and Internet Piracy Laws.”

  • Put Australia’s key industries in public hands

    As part of its federal election campaign this year, the Socialist Alliance is calling for the mining industry, the big banks and the energy companies to be put back into public hands, so that they can be run in a way that respects the environment and social justice. But several other important industries should also be in line for nationalisation under workers' and community control in future.

  • Broadband: Public money to create private profit?

    In April 2009, Kevin Rudd, then Labor prime minister, announced the National Broadband Network (NBN), a massive infrastructure project to provide high-speed network access to 93% of Australia, with satellite access for the rest. Rollout of the network began in Tasmania in July. 2009. Operations began in some other areas in July 2010.