Left behind on NBN

WHILE NBN Co and the Government tinker around the edges of actual reform, small and medium sized businesses across Tasmania are being left behind. I constantly hear from small businesses in regional communities which have had their internet and phone services dropping out four or five times a day. A survey by ASXlisted Reckon found 83 per cent of small businesses lack confidence in the delivery of Turnbull’s second-rate NBN. It found a majority believe they will be left out of the digital economy. Last year, Tasmania registered over 1100 internet-related complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman. This represents about 40 per cent of complaints from Tasmania. A good start would be for the Government to prioritise a consumer-rights framework which gives a clear process to resolve complaints. NBN must improve its small business services through dedicated products. With the emergence of 5G services, NBN’s poor performance will only increase the risk of more Tasmanian businesses abandoning the network.

Rings a bell

DEJA VU — there seems to be a certain familiarity regarding the Tasmanian election and the South Australian election this weekend re gaming and the targeting of Nick Xenophon and his SA-BEST party, for having the temerity to propose halving the number of poker machines over the next five years. The Australian Hotels Association is running an expensive campaign of job losses as the inevitable result, which is totally contrary to evidence based research. There seems nothing like self-interest to focus the mind. kilowatt hour. We all know the rate set by Aurora (should read Hydro in my opinion) consists of the total costs of the provision of services by our asset which makes our lives easier. The 8c per KWH probably is the actual cost of the production of the power, the rest is overheads. If you the solar panel owners were to realise your 28c that would mean the power charges to those of us without solar panels would become prohibitive. Please remember the reason you put the panels on your roof in the first place. Over the life of your system you will recoup your cost and have lower power bills plus still get an 8c dividend on each unit of electricity your system puts into the grid, something the have-nots cannot achieve. case economy, we have great resources aquaculture, agriculture, plantation forestry, mining and tourism plus value added manufacturing like Incat. We can be an energy leader with hydro and wind and solar. We should embrace the future, preserve our wilderness for all the world to admire. Stand tall Tasmania and embrace the future!