Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I am aware of claims that the coalition plans to demolish the NBN and consign Australia to the digital dark ages. Those opposite do not have a plan; they have a patchwork. It is not a network; it is a patchwork. The coalition’s focus on wireless defies the advice of industry experts who agree it is complementary technology to fibre. It will not deliver the speed and capacity needed for the delivery of health care, education and the business applications of the future. Professor Robert Braun from the University of Technology Sydney said the coalition’s plan is fundamentally flawed both technically and economically. He said:

Technically, it grabs a bunch of technologies that were already outdated when they were first considered by the Howard government four or five years ago …

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From an economic point of view, the Coalition plan is a disaster.

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