As we head towards the end of the Federal Election campaign we need to take stock of the promises made and those that affect all of us.

There is one election issue that is going to affect us all in one way or another for decades to come. This issue will have an impact on the way we live & work in the future. It is not a pipe dream or a proposal but it is a current reality. What I am talking about here is the National Broadband Network (NBN). 

The NBN is a lot more than Download & Upload speeds for home users. It is about future education, especially distance education, Imagine being able to attend lectures in realtime in your own home while studying for a degree.

Health care where clinicians can be in capital city hospitals can diagnose conditions for people living in remote parts of Australia thereby removing the need to travel long distances for a diagnosis. 

Telecommuting being able to work more reliably from home thereby taking cars off the roads especially in peak periods. This would result in a positive outcome for our environment.

The list goes on we will all benefit from a high speed, modern and robust communications network built for the future not just today. 

The current NBN rollout Fibre to the Premises (FttP) offers this as well as easy upgrades as required in the future. The alternative that is being offered Fibre to the Node (FttN) will still rely on the rapidly aging and fast becoming obsolete copper network that is susceptible to water and environmental damage. Fibre is not exempt from environmental damage however water damage is almost non existent.

The coalition when in government had 19 different broadband proposals and did not implement any of them. We had a change of government in 2007 resulting in NBN with FttP. We are at risk of having this great evolving network downgraded to a lesser offering. You do not build a 6 lane freeway and feed it into a 2 lane road do you? Regardless of who wins on Saturday, September 7 we need to have a high speed robust and reliable broadband network for a large and growing variety of reasons.

Countries around the world are rolling out fibre broadband networks. This project is the largest engineering project ever undertaken in Australia. It will take time and it will have it’s problems.

Think of this where would Australia have been in the late 19th century if our forebears had not built the Overland Telegraph or in the 1950’s  through to the 1960’s when the Snowy Mountains scheme was constructed. Food for thought I think you will agree.