On Mon, Apr 15, 2013 at 12:38 PM, Les Hughes <[email protected]> wrote:
> mike smith wrote: > >> On Mon, Apr 15, 2013 at 7:52 AM, David Connors <[email protected]<mailto: >> [email protected]>> wrote: >> >> On Mon, Apr 15, 2013 at 3:21 AM, Les Hughes <[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> >> My opinion: Labor's NBN is a good idea. In reality it will >> probably take 2, 3, or more times as long, and be the same in >> cost. Is fibre great? Sure. Is fibre great at $10,000+ per >> house. No. Is $10,000 fibre per house even better when it's >> all controlled by a government monopoly? Yes! Whoops, I mean >> @#*&#*&*$ NOOO! >> >> >> If one accepts the idea that fast broadband will economically >> revolutionise the country by allowing people to do all sorts of >> high bandwidth stuff, then the CVC charges need to go - full stop. >> The direct result of that is that the project needs to be not >> treated as an investment with a financial return, but just treated >> as a social welfare project and moved onto the appropriate place >> in the budget with health, education, etc. >> >> Somewhat ironically, I would have a lot less of a problem with the >> project if the government did that: Call a spade a spade. >> Bonus question: If you were spending your personal money on a >> project that was proceeding at <1% of its stated goals, how long >> would you continue investing? >> >> How long did people invest in Amazon? For years it ran in the red, and I >> bet that wasn't a goal. >> > And if they failed, it didn't cost me $1000's. If they run over budget, > and their products were unviable, the market would punish them. No such > mechanism exists with government "investment". > > There is a big difference regarding public risk that will benefit > corporations vs. corporate risk. > THe question was regarding 'personal money' - so I picked an example of something one could invest in. The NBN is a bad example of that, you cannot invest in it (yet?) -- Meski http://courteous.ly/aAOZcv "Going to Starbucks for coffee is like going to prison for sex. Sure, you'll get it, but it's going to be rough" - Adam Hills
