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Comment by cam_l | Hacker News Reader

The big issue will be in the sort of contracts they sign with Telstra to rent and maintain the copper infrastructure - which by the figures I have seen published so far may make it more expensive than the FTTH (though no one really knows at this point).

Given that the point of the FTTN as opposed to FTTH is to essentially maintain the status quo for the media (and give established businesses, city areas and the wealthy a competitive advantage - at 2-5G a pop for a connection).. the likelihood is that the libs will try to lock in these contracts as much as possible.

It disappoints me that the article seems to suggest that the board quit due to a lack of faith from the incoming minister, rather than as a gesture which shows a disturbing lack of faith in the incoming minister.

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> though no one really knows at this point

This is half the problem. After 30 years in IT, I note the NBN has no feasibility study, no cost benefit analysis, and is running way beyond schedule. This is the sort of project you try to get off because it will damage your career. What could possibly go wrong? But there's more... It is what is known as a "CEO mandate" project, in this case it resulted from a Kevin Rudd thought bubble. These invariably end in disaster. NAB's ISI project was one example of these and resulted in $billions of write-downs (this is in the public record). Turnbull has promised an actual feasibility study and cost analysis. This at least seems sensible. People act as though it is obvious that NBN is a good idea. It is not obvious to me. NBN will deliver nothing to my area for at least 5 years - assuming NBN gets back onto its planned schedule. The conservatives' plan will deliver a major speedup much more quickly, and as others have pointed out, it retains the option to implement FTTN as an add-on later, if and when and where that makes sense.

Does this conspiracy theory that Turnbull is doing Murdoch's bidding have any ... you know ... evidence?

The cui bono is just stupidly thin. Murdoch makes bugger all on his Australian operations. If he divested the lot Wall Street would cheer, holler and stamp its feet.

Edit: "quo vadis" indeed. What's the Latin for malapropism?

I never mentioned murdoch. I think FTTN benefits all established media. I was also was having a go at smh reporting, so whatever..

But since you ask, I would say the reason why people think there was a conspiracy is the rabid anti-NBN propaganda by murdoch during the election.

A better explanation perhaps.. http://theconversation.com/news-corp-australia-vs-the-nbn-is...

Sorry, I was reading my own pet peeve about conspiracy theories into your remarks. I've seen all the arguments given before, but honestly, Foxtel just doesn't make very much money for Newscorp.

And given the huge bargaining power Foxtel has to alter content agreements, switching to an NBN-based streaming model just isn't the contractual minefield that it is in the USA (where there are far more cable providers).

I think that most papers came out against Rudd because they were ... against Rudd.

I don't blame Abbott, he is merely doing what LNP does best.

We have better things to spend our money on than, like keeping the population white and burning lots of fossil fuels.

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