Not up to speed

Our Government is blowing its trumpet over next generation broadband (NGB), that is alleged to offer greater speeds.

The reason why this has happened is that the previous generation broadband was nowhere near expectations about speed and reliability, in addition to its steep costs for a poor service. If one was to use a standard dial-up connection and compare, they would by no means see an overwhelming difference in speed. It some cases it could even be faster.

We are now promised by the Department of Communication, Energy and Natural Resources that NGB is the future. Next generation broadband is expensive for so-called faster speeds — will it too be surpassed by another generation of super broadband offering the same technical problems at a very much increased cost?