Australia to build national broadband network

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the Government would lead the development of a national fibre-to-the-home broadband network up to "100 times faster than what many people use now".

The ambitious project will take up to eight years, cost $43 billion, create tens of thousands of jobs and will see fibre-optic cable laid out to individual houses.

The fibre-optic network, providing speeds of up to 100 megabits per second, will cover 90 per cent of Australians, while the rest will have access to a mix of wireless and satellite connections.

This new super fast national broadband network is the single largest national building project in Australia's history."

Ive been reading the comments attached to this article, and its like people have FORGOTTEN the past few months.

Australia's third largest internet provider, iiNet, has withdrawn from the Government's internet censorship trials, saying it could not "reconcile participation in the trial with our corporate social responsibility".

Isnt this bloody obvious?

The Large ISP's decided to drop out of the government netcensorship.

So now, the government has declared they are basically going to build the internet across Australia, WITHOUT any companies participation.

cant you see?

I just read the article myself and you're completely right, this stinks of creating a censored / monitored net, why the hell would the government want to do itself if not for that very purpose. If it was merely to make sure jobs are secured then this could be put through in tender.

[edit]
And seeing as it's built with tax payer money.. will it be free?

[edit on 7/4/2009 by spitefulgod]

This will be a GIANT FLOP.

I would have absolutely nothing to do with any government owned cable/wires in my house in this day and age. The potential abuse of this would be endless.
I'm sure many others would feel the same way.

It might be 100 times faster in speed, but it also means the government can get your net habits and a whole pile of other private information 100 times faster too.

I'll stick with my wi-fi thanks Mr Rudd.