Friday, April 13, 2012

Expert claims tablets and smart phones will phase out NBN



  • Expert says NBN Co is just a waste of money 
  • Survey reveals 71 percent of Australians use laptop, tablet or smartphone 
  • Chief Technology Officer fights back against NBN phase out claims 
Quantum Market Research analyst David Chalke, a prominent social analyst, has argued that the rise of mobile internet through tablets and smart phones threatens to make the $36bn National Broadband Network (NBN) project a huge waste of taxpayers’ money.


The Herald Sun has reported that Chalke said NBN Co was “missing the boat”.
Chalke has based his claims from the results of the Australia SCAN social trend survey, showing 71 per cent of the 2000 Australian respondents owned a laptop, smartphone or tablet.


"Everything is going to be wireless by the time they’ve dug up the roads and stuffed the pipes,” he said.


“It will be too late, it’s all going to be mobile and wireless in the future,” he told Herald Sun.


Chief Technology Officer refutes NBN phase out claims NBN Co chief technology officer Gary McLaren has countered Chalke’s claims, saying that Australians prefer fixed lines for downloads and video streaming.


McLaren has cited the latest survey from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) which reveals that 93 percent of Australians use fixed-line connections to download content.


“The proportion of mobile handset downloads over mobile networks is estimated to make up just 1.4 percent of total internet downloads in Australia,” he said.


“Other wireless broadband technologies account for just 6.6 percent.”


“Fixed lines remain the engine-room of downloads in this country and around the world. As data-heavy applications such as video become more prevalent there will be an increasing need for robust fixed connections such as the NBN.”


McLaren has argued that enhanced fixed lines such as the NBN are here to ease the limitations of mobile internet.


“The eternal problems associated with spectrum scarcity – such as mobile congestion and a hefty price premium placed on using such a limited resource – are not going to go away,” he added.

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