You’ve got a point, but even there was a case that fibre to the home would transform our economy, or make everyone happier, that still doesn’t mean that taxpayer money – stolen from you and I – should be spent on it.

Building things and providing services is what the free market is for, and National is supposed to know that.

National’s failure to understand that the free market is not just a good idea, but is in fact essential to the future of telecommunications in New Zealand, is galling. The more money is pumped into this boondoggle, the more we will fall behind.

Again, show me the business case. Tell me how really fast broadband as distinct from what we have now, will increase GDP by the investment required?

It’s not like building a road where we didn’t have one at all.

It’s like building an autobahn but we already have a perfectly functioning tarsealed road with no capacity problems, since every single business gets as much internet as they need, don’t they? Right now? Don’t they?

Tell me exactly precisely in detail, just exactly and precisely this new infrastructure is going to transform our economy.

Go on, I dare you.

http://antidismal.blogspot.com/2009/04/muldoon-is-dead-long-live-muldoon.html

Looks very similar to NZ with a company like CFIC being set up. But is that company going to put in $43B or is the whole network going to cost $43B (and the private sector finds some portion of this)? In either case it is much larger than the $1.5B from NZ government (on a per capita basis).

However Australian govt has only allocated $4.7B so far. OK, if they double it – the private sector puts in $36.6B. I can’t see that happening on the returns that are likely. Looks like too much “smokes and mirrors” political accounting for me.

Sounds very like the policy National used to have, yes.

It will go the way of the ‘national cycleway’ ( remember that, Bill has pulled the plug allready)

There were microwave towers every 20 km or so and I noticed rather squat buildings with solar cells every so often which were the fibre repeaters for a fibre cable route. Went past a Navy communications facility, the coach driver knew more about it than he could tell us. This is a strategic area – when you reach Darwin you are just across the sea from Asia.

How ridiculous I thought that an essential national asset such as that fibre optic cable was privatised – the Aussie Government should have retained fundamental ownership and just leased some of the capacity and maintenance contract to Telstra. Presumably the Government will have to back-lease some of the capacity for its internet network at a cost just short of the amortised cost of a new cable.