nbn - cost now $50b and rising

From the Australian...


"CAPITAL spending on the National Broadband Network will top $50 billion and slower-than-expected development of digital video content could put at risk the financial returns for the ultra-fast network, a confidential report to Labor states.

The Australian can reveal the government has been told by its own corporate advisers, Greenhill Caliburn, that slower progress on digital video and other new services could undermine the take-up rate and revenues for the NBN—sparking accusations that a major use for the NBN will be for video entertainment.

The full report by Greenhill Caliburn, obtained under Freedom of Information, also reveals that $50.6bn in capex would have been spent on the network by 2028.

That is dramatically higher than the $35.9bn in capital costs to build the project by December 2020 that is usually cited by Labor. The heavily redacted document also shows the extent of the criticism of the NBN’s pricing model, which includes a fee based on the amount of data carried through the network.

As well as warning of a “potential consumer pushback” to the NBN’s assumption that it can charge more for higher speeds, the report says the model was abandoned by Korea Telecom—and Time Warner Cable discontinued trials of the model in the US."

The first of many increases in the cost of the project. But a mere $15B increase will not deter this government! Particularly, as all costs associated with the NBN do not get included in the budget!