You guys need to check your speeds - just doing a bit of looking...

You guys need to check your speeds - just doing a bit of looking around (no-expert so check for yourself) I have satellite speed of upload .06mbps, download .51mbps.($100 per month). Compare that to average speed SKorea 36.09 mbps, Romania 22.55mbps....no Australian city ranks in the top 100 cities.

It's all well and good to want the best of everything here in Australia, however, if ytou're going to balance the argument of a $43bill spend (not $34bill) you have to consider the cost of implementing and up-keep of the service.

South Korea is a perfect example. Here we have the country with the top speeds in the world, but here's a summary of the cost of implementing such a network - from 2009 - and is currently in progress:

The plan calls for a total spending of 34.1 trillion won ($24.6 billion) over the next five years. The central government will put up 1.3 trillion won, with the remainder coming from private telecom operators. The project is expected to create 120,000 jobs.

So only approximately $1bill is being outlayed by the government, a whopping 1/40th of our spend (and a fair comparison as the GDP of both countries is very similar). Then take into account that there are over twice as many people in South Korea as Australia, the cost of implementation for taxpayers is almost 1/100th per South Korean as it is for each Australian. South Korea also has one of the densest populations in the world.

Unfortunately you are not comparing apples with apples. We cannot afford such a big spend, it is the most expensive government spend for fibre in the world. There are alot smarter ways to achieve the goal of fast Internet for all, it doesn't have to be the fastest in the world. South Korea has become the biggest online game host in the world. This is a nice to have that frankly I'd rather spend the vast amount of money on health and transport in a quickly growing and ageing population.