Australians want a Telstra NBN
Just released research found that Australians regarded the NBN as a critical piece of national infrastructure vital to the nation’s economic progress in the 21st century; respondent want it to be the best and are not prepared to make compromises, insisting it be built using the latest state-of-the-art technology.
The research conducted by Labor pollsters, UMR Research, involved a telephone survey of 1200 Australian consumers.
The survey findings showed strong support for Telstra building and operating the NBN, the major reasons being: Telstra’s Australian background and heritage; its financial capacity to build the network; and importantly the fact that it already has the runs on the board in terms of advanced technology projects.
The opposition Terria consortium is almost totally unknown and its capabilities and track record a complete mystery to most Australians.
Significantly, Australians strongly embrace the open access regime that Telstra has agreed, that companies gain equivalent access to the network and the operating regime is entrenched in law and administered by the ACCC. When informed of this Australians become even more supportive of Telstra building and operating the NBN.
Key Findings
- Australians regard the NBN as a vital part of the nation's future infrastructure, critical to the country being economically competitive in the 21st century. Access to high speed broadband infrastructure is seen as vital to the nation's economic prosperity.
- While a majority of Australians (56%) are aware that the Federal government has called for proposals to construct and operate a national broadband network, knowledge of the details and indeed the capabilities of this new piece of national infrastructure are not yet well known nor understood. Despite this there is a strong view that Australians should not accept anything but the best, when asked most say "Australia can't afford to make do with the second-best, we need the world's best network using the leading technologies".
- Australians know enough about the NBN to appreciate that the benefits will be very widespread. They expect virtually every group in society to benefit: business, those in regional Australia, tele-workers and people working from home, farmers, families, young people even pensioners and older folk.
- The public has a very firm idea on who they think should build and operate the NBN. There is a very strong support for Telstra building and operating the NBN. Nearly two thirds (66%) support Telstra both building and operating the NBN and only a relatively small proportion (23%) are against the idea.
- The opposition Terria consortium is a complete unknown to the Australian public. Only a tiny (12%) proportion of the population has even heard of the consortium and a massive 88% don't know anything about it.
- The major drivers supporting Telstra's bid to build the NBN can be summarised as:
- The economic benefits deriving from Telstra, a large Australian company employing many thousands of people with 1.4 million shareholders.
- A national security perspective; it is seen as much better to have an Australian owned company in charge of critical pieces of the nation's communications infrastructure.
- Telstra is a proven technology leader with the runs on the board
- In these troubled financial times only Telstra has the capability to raise the funds required.
- A major concern among some commentators is a perception that Telstra enjoys a monopoly position in the Australian market and building and operating the NBN will further entrench its position. The research shows that this is not a view held by the public. Most Australians, a majority, (54%) believe that Telstra has significant competition from many companies including both Vodafone and Optus competing across the board.
- And while there is a superficial attractiveness to the concept of structural separation, the research demonstrates that when Australians gain an understanding of its lack of success in overseas markets, any support that existed collapses with only a small proportion (24%) supporting the concept while the majority (56%) reject it.
- There is incredibly strong support amongst Australians (84%) for an open access regime providing equivalent access to other companies to use the NBN with rules legislated for by the Federal government and policed by the ACCC. Indeed when respondents are told that Telstra has agreed to this support further increases to 74% with only a tiny (13%) minority opposing Telstra building and operating the NBN.
- Also, finally the proposals put by the Terria consortium that it should have a monopoly if it wins the tender to operate the NBN worries a great deal of people and is rejected by over three quarters of the public.
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