Sluggish NBN hits business

Marles claims Geelong’s rebuild is at risk

FEDERAL MP Richard Marles has slammed the sluggish NBN, voicing concerns a “second-rate internet” will harm Geelong’s growing push to be a hub for “advanced” jobs.

The Corio Labor MP said constituents were coming to him almost every day with problems they were having with the National Broadband Network.

“For us in regional Australia the NBN is a critical piece of infrastructure,” Mr Marles said. “This government is rolling out a product which for many people will be less than what they already have. It makes no sense at all.

“If we are going to have advanced jobs which stay in Geelong you can’t do that with a second-rate internet. You just can’t.”

Mr Marles’ comments came as a record number of Australians lodged complaints about their home internet service, and amid concerns the NBN would be obsolete by the time it’s rolled out.

Geelong Manufacturing Council chief executive David Peart said the impacts of not having fast and reliable internet for local businesses could be severe.

“Advanced manufacturing is increasingly heavily dependant on fast, high quality internet access,” Mr Peart said.

“If you are in a supply chain that requires quick and reliable access to information transfer then you are at a disadvantage if you don’t have it today.”

Corangamite federal Liberal MP Sarah Henderson hit back at Mr Marles’ comments yesterday.

“Labor’s NBN policy would have cost $30 billion more and taken six to eight years longer to complete, and would have increased broadband bills by up to $43 per month,” Ms Henderson said.

“Under Mr Marles and Labor, the southern suburbs of Geelong were completely left off NBN’s three-year rollout plan,” she said.

Associate Professor Mark Gregory of RMIT University last week warned the NBN was “obsolete technology” that would likely be scrapped in favour of incoming super-fast 5G mobile network.

The Telecommunication Industry Ombudsman last week reported that internet services now accounted for the highest source of complaints in the past financial year — a first for the country.

In 2013 Australia was ranked 30th in the world for internet speeds. It was last year ranked 50th despite the rollout of the NBN.

The latest quarterly Akamai State of the Internet report had Australia’s internet speed lagging behind those of New Zealand and Kenya.

In 2014 the Liberal Government changed the way the NBN was to be delivered, moving from Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) at most points to Fibre-to-the-Node (FTTN).