Who will use, or be able to afford, the NBN

Detailing a social engineering rationale behind its legislation to mandate the NBN rollout into the home the Government says the value of early access to this may be greater to the extent that people in new estates may otherwise be physically as well as socially isolated.

"The ability of super fast broadband to support high definition video-calling and video-conferencing can help maintain family relationships both by supporting contact with family members and allowing users to work from home," it says.

It goes on to argue that many broadband features, such as access to government services and assistance with patient self-management of chronic illness may be of particular benefit to people living in social and affordable housing developments.

"It is often the case that the ability of those on low incomes to access these services directly is limited by the lack, or cost, of transport.

"This being the case, residents of affordable housing and social housing developments may gain the greatest benefit from access to broadband," it says.

So what we have here is a paternalistic assumption that the mandatory rollout of the Government's high speed broadband cable will bring joy to the life of low income earners and particularly those living in housing commission type accommodation. It virtually encourages a sedentary lifestyle through internet based social interaction.

The Government puts the NBN into the category of a utility such as electricity and gas. But householders are already facing steep rises in the cost of these services along with increasing pressure on home loan interest rates. On top of this people will have to meet the cost of upgrading or replacing their television sets by 2013 when the country will move from the traditional analogue to all digital broadcasting.

Requiring all new developments to be at least fibre ready will increase the cost of these properties. But the Government says this should not be a worry because it will boost their resale value. It suggests that fibre to the home will have the added benefit of making these properties more aesthetically attractive but concedes that this assumption is not readily quantifiable.

The crunch for the NBN will come if a large majority of people decide that they don't want or can't afford the cost of migrating to this service regardless of its whizzbang features.

The Government will inevitably come under pressure to offset the cost of its digital television conversion particularly for pensioners and other lower income groups. It is legitimate to ask how far the Government is prepared to underwrite the connection and consequent rewiring costs to encourage community support for its broadband fibre rollout because this could have a significant impact on the initial $43b estimate for this project.