NBN in ‘steam train’ era

Firm invests in ‘old technology’ copper

AUSTRALIA’S multibilliondollar internet project could feature more outdated, costly technology than first thought after NBN Co revealed it had purchased more than 15,000km of copper wire, which one industry expert compared to “an investment in a steam train”.

The company revealed its purchase in a delayed response to a Senate Estimates question, and after NBN chief executive Bill Morrow admitted copper technology was more expensive to maintain.

Industry experts claimed installing copper would be more expensive in the long run, as it would need to be replaced to achieve the download speeds users required in future.

NBN Co revealed it had purchased the cable from Australia, Brazil and Turkey, and the National Broadband Network may still require more of the old technology previously used to connect landline phones.

“The total purchase of copper will vary with final rollout technology mix, as each technology has unique characteristics that affect copper cable utilisation,” the company told the Senate.

Federal Shadow Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland, said the purchase had grown significantly from the 1800km estimated in October 2015, and was “enough to wrap around Australia”.

Telecommunications consultant Paul Budde said the investment lacked foresight and made Australia “one of the few western economies still buying copper in those quantities”.

“It’s like buying an investment in a steam train – it’s still running but it’s not the right infrastructure going forward,” he said.

“It’s investing in old technology.”

Mr Budde said the technology was ultimately a waste of money as “eventually that will have to be replaced with fibre”.

Internet Australia chairwoman Anne Hurley said it was not clear whether the 15,000km of copper would mainly be used to replace existing damaged connections, or to create new fibre-to-the-node connections.

“Whichever one is driving a purchase of that magnitude, we still need to ask why,” she said.

“This is the technology of yesterday.”

NBN chief executive Bill Morrow recently told the Senate more new homes would receive copper-based fibre-tothe-node connections “because it does not make economic sense to put fibre in just for a couple of homes on a block of land that has been remodelled”. Bigger new developments would “typically” receive faster fibre connections, he said.

Mr Morrow also admitted copper required “more money to keep updated and to repair than fibre” but said the $2000 per home difference in installing the technology meant that you could “afford to pay more” for monthly repairs.

The NBN recently came under fire for attracting more than double the number of complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman in the final six months of last year compared to the same period in 2015.