Technology Slice

High Speed Internet To Be Cheaper

High Speed Internet To Be Cheaper – The national broadband network can be cheaper than the $43 billion top end price and more expansive than the government initially projected and can break even within six years, according to a new report into the plan.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy this afternoon released an implementation study into the network carried out by consultants at KPMG and McKinsey and Company.

The $25 million study recommended that fibre coverage be extended to 93 per cent of homes and businesses, more than the 90 per cent initially proposed by the government when it launched the plan last April.

For coverage to the next 4 per cent of homes, it recommended using a combination of a fixed wireless network and a satellite, while the remaining 2 per cent should be by satellite only. While the first 93 per cent of premises would be serviced at a speed of 100 megabits per second, the final 7 per cent would have up to 12 megabits per second.

The study found that the $43 billion price tag put on the plan was at the high end of a range of costs. It said it could be built marginally more cheaply even including the 1.3 million new homes not included in the initial estimate.

Tags: April, Fixed Wireless, High Speed Internet, Implementation Study, Initial Estimate, Internet Speed, Kpmg, Mckinsey And Company, Megabits, National Broadband Network, New Homes, Premises, Price Tag, Satellite, Six Years
Posted in Internet