NBN BUZZ: Budget baulk

NBN Buzz is a weekly wrap up of everthing that's going on with Australia's biggest ever infrastructure project. For previous articles got to our NBN Buzz page.

The budget takes no prisoners

Whether the budget wins the government their much-needed circuit breaker remains to be seen, but the Treasurer's annual speech is supposed to act as a yearly reminder to voters of a government's headliner policies and a primer for its upcoming ones. True to form, the fact that the national broadband network is an off-budget item didn't stop Wayne Swan from selling it as a nation-building exercise, because even casual watchers of the plan can see there are a raft of investments available to the government to enhance the NBN's potential.

But as David Havyatt says in his blog  Anything Goes, those expecting the government to unveil such a raft of worthwhile investments were left disappointed: “The best we can say is the government is still committed to the NBN but hasn't really developed any strategies for digital productivity.”

Havyatt argues that digital economy enthusiasts are underwhelmed by this budget, not just because the rhetoric of developing knowledge-based industries that will ultimately feed off the NBN was partnered with images of the industrial trades, but the myriad opportunities available to extract broader value out of the network haven't occurred to the government, not publicly at least.

“No doubt when Senator Stephen Conroy delivers his Digital Economy strategy there will be more details of the government's plans that don't require expenditure, but overall there is a sense of unfulfilled expectation about the initiatives expected in this budget,” he adds.

Tech writer Stilgherrian lamented in Crikey the pointlessness of the whole budget exercise given that the NBN remains an off-budget item: “Riddle me this. What is the actual point of the federal budget process and all the lock-up shenanigans that go with it when the biggest bucket of money related to the technology sector by far, that national broadband network thing, isn't even on the books?

“What is the point when the way that NBN money is being spent – and is it $26 billion or $36 billion or $43 billion or that $50 billion scare-number that Malcolm Turnbull pulled out of some random orifice and keeps repeating unchallenged? — it is all SEKRIT thanks to those magic words 'commercial confidentiality'.”

Filter funding falls

There were some noteworthy NBN-budget stories. The government dropped the grants program from internet service providers to offer filtering options for their customers because “consultation with industry has identified limited interest in the grants due to the increasing range of filtering technologies readily available to online users, including browser and search engine filters, and the decision of the three largest ISPs, which account for over 70 per cent of Australian internet users, to voluntarily filter child abuse sites using a list compiled and maintained by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.” They could have added that internet censorship is a widely unpopular idea for Australians in the first place, as customers or citizens.

Telstra-NBN marriage incentives

Also in NBN-budget news, The Australian reports that budget papers show the government is considering offering Telstra and NBN Co incentives to agree on an infrastructure-sharing deal. Fairfax explains how “mum and dad” investors can help finance the NBN through Aussie Infrastructure Bonds.

As NBN Co rolls out cables in Tasmania, Delimiter is reporting that Telstra is targeting areas that are coincidentally slated to be given the inferior NBN wireless coverage. If you want a comprehensive picture of where NBN Co will land in the next 12 months, have a look a Conroy's seven state-specific press releases for the budget; it must be said they don't make for great reading.

Quigley's hard labour

It turns out that during Chris Uhlmann's seven and a half minute interview with NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley on the 7:30 Report, the pair found something else to talk about besides the tedious coverage of the appointments of Quigley and chief financial officer Jean-Pascal Beaufret. They talked about labour.

Quigley reiterated that NBN Co suspended the tendering process because they thought the bids were too high and “we won't build at any costs”. So how is Quigley going to get the costs down? “We may look at how to get a commitment for some level of fixed costs.”

Given that Quigley put a firm line between Beaufret and himself, and the investigation into their former employer Alcatel-Lucent, it was curious to then see NBN Co's twitter account promoting the company's YouTube channel on May 9, featuring a lead video with the logo of which Paris-based telecommunications company at the bottom right of the screen? Yep, you guessed it.

Note: This morning (Friday) The Australian reports that there are disrepencies between Quigley's recent statements and allegations filed against Alcatel-Lucent by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. While Quigley says Alcatel management  "took immediate steps to inform and co-operate with all authorities" once becoming aware of the corrupt activities, court documents detail allegations from the SEC that Alcatel continued to pay bribes for

Wrap up

ZDnet's David Braue has a worthy reflection on the significance of Vodafone's decision to resell NBN Co landline services: “While it was likely a bitter pill for wireless-minded Vodafone to swallow, the decision to join its top-tier rivals by taking NBN services is fundamentally reflective of the new world order that is slowly emerging as Vodafone's initial business model simply runs out of steam.”

In other news, NBN Co will face a new parliamentary committee at least twice a year, giving chair of the inquiry Independent MP Rob Oakeshott another chance to talk, at length, about the wonders of process. “Personally, I would be asking questions in regard to issues around engineering and rollout... and also from a financial perspective to make sure we get (the) full bang for (our) buck."

Finally, ARNnet reports that NBN Co has provided extra information about how internet service providers will be able to test their services in 'sandpits'. “Sandpits are pre-certification testing sites where ISPs with NBN Co wholesale agreements will have the chance to test configuration and products on a quarantined portion of the NBN. It is part of the NBN Co accreditation process and will aid understanding on how an ISP's products will work with the NBN.”

NBN Buzz is our weekly examination of all things NBN, but you can follow us on Twitter for up to the minute news.