National Broadband Network Implementation Study

The Australian Government has released the National Broadband Network Implementation Study, after a delay of several months. The Study reports on the feasibility of the NBN. The Government has invited comments on the Study and has set up an NBN Implementation Study wiki, for comments. In the accompanying Media release the Minister claims the study confirms the NBN is achievable and affordable.

Summary OF IMPLEMENTATION STUDY FINDINGS

• Government's objectives for the National Broadband Network can be implemented within the $43 billion estimate of capital expenditure by deploying fibre to 93 percent, fixed-wireless from the 94th to 97th percentiles and satellite to the final 3 percent of premises.
• The NBN should be deployed efficiently by setting practical coverage objectives, being willing to make use of existing infrastructure, providing appropriate legislative support and leveraging the capabilities of commercial wireless operators.
• Retail competition should be improved through mandating NBN Co's wholesale-only, open-access role and by ensuring NBN Co eliminates network bottlenecks and operates at the lowest appropriate layer in the OSI stack.
• The fibre access network should be expected to become the predominant fixed-line telecommunications infrastructure over time by pricing for affordability and take-up and providing continuity for existing services.
• Full Government ownership should be maintained until after the roll-out is complete requiring temporary peak funding in the vicinity of $26 billion by year 6-which can be paid down quickly from then with investment-grade debt prior to privatisation. Government should expect to cover its cost of funds under most plausible business case scenarios.
• Future competition and innovation potential should be safeguarded by preferring a network design that preserves options for active-layer competition and shifts in technology, and by ensuring a healthy industry structure and appropriate regulatory regime are in place prior to privatisation ...
  

The Study is provided in PDF, RTF and compressed RTF formats, both as one file for the whole report, and as individual chapters. What is not provided is an easy to read web version of the document. Also there appears to be a fault in the formatting of the RTF version of the document, with the executive summary being 46.8mBytes, compared to 449Kbytes for the PDF version.

• Introduction, table of contents and list of acronyms (PDF, 214 KB)

1. Executive Summary (PDF, 449 KB)
2. Establishing a mandate for NBN Co (PDF, 477 KB)
3. Establishing a new generation of services (PDF, 344 KB)
4. Building a fibre access network to 90+ per cent of premises (PDF, 826 KB)
5. Ensuring national availability of high-speed broadband (PDF, 691 KB)
6. Ensuring ubiquitous backhaul availability (PDF, 220 KB)
7. Presenting an integrated business case (PDF, 223 KB)
8. Funding the NBN (PDF, 391 KB)
9. Understanding adverse competition scenarios (PDF, 287 KB)
10. Securing competition outcomes (PDF, 298 KB)
11. Facilitating implementation of the NBN (ZIP, 68 KB)

• National Broadband Network Implementation Study—complete report (PDF, 3 MB)