NBN study says project is viable and doable
The $25 million study on the national broadband network commissioned by the federal government has revealed on Thursday that the project is doable within the allocated $43 billion budget and should be up and running within its eight year time frame.
According to ABC, the NBN study conducted by McKinsel and KPMG even stated that spending could be further reduced to $38 billion should the government succeed in reaching a deal with Telstra for access of its existing network.
The federal government has announced that funding for the project will come from the Commonwealth, which constitutes 51 percent while the rest will be sourced from commercial investments, as the study reported that government expenditures would peak to $26 billion by the seventh year of NBN's implementation.
Another $18.3 billion will be required to operate the network over the next four years as the study encouraged the government to target 93 percent of Australian homes once the rollout has started and must remain as wholly state-owned until the project's total completion.
The study referred to the market dictates as far as pricing is concern but it is explicit that the network must be wholesale and it hinted that entry-level wholesale prices should be about $35 a month, at least for the basic service to be offered.
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy attested to NBN's commercial viability as shown by the latest report amidst rising doubts that the huge project would be impossible to implement, owing to its size and cost.
The NBN project is targeting to provide broadband connections on every Australian household, with speed reaching up to 100 megabits and surpassing by a hundred times the current speed enjoyed by internet users in the country.
To make the project more efficient in terms of funding and implementation, the government has set out to seek deals with Telstra and NBN Co for the project's use of some of their facilities in exchange for interests in the company.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd vowed today that the NBN will definitely rollout amidst opposition threats that they will block the plan once it reached the parliament for approval.