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People calling for NBN write-down actually want dramatic price cut: NBN CEO

Published

4 years ago

February 11, 2019

The company responsible for deploying the National Broadband Network (NBN) across Australia has maintained that there are no impairment issues that would see the company needing to write down the value of the company, and that those calling for such action are just after a wholesale price cut.

“When people say there should be a write-down, I don’t think that is what they are really calling for. Essentially, they are calling for the wholesale price to fall dramatically,” NBN CEO Stephen Rue told the Joint Standing Committee looking into the business case for the NBN on Monday.

“Calls for a large wholesale price cut puts at risk the long-term viability of the company … without that, I truly believe you put at the digital future of the country, and all the benefits that flow.”

Rue said the company wants retailers to be successful, but that the NBN needs to have enough cash to complete the build, and maintain and upgrade the network. The NBN CEO also restated that the network build would be complete in 2020.

In October, NBN chair Ziggy Switkowski ruled out a write-down, saying the ability to properly value the network would not happen until the 2020s.

Read: NBN chair rules out network write-down

“I think considerations and evaluations of NBN will await the business moving into a normal conventional mode, which will happen when we finish the building in 2020, we complete the conversion of all households and businesses in 2021, we turn cashflow positive, we look forward, and then whoever is going to make a judgment will make it then,” Switkowski said at the time.

Australian Treasurer cum Prime Minister Scott Morrison last year also told ZDNet that the government is not looking to write down the NBN.

“We said at the time that that was not a view that we had held as necessary. It’s not our advice, and it’s still no longer the issue, and we continue to maintain I think a very sound commercial footing for the NBN and the assumptions it’s based on,” Morrison said.

“And of course it has to pass muster on those issues when it comes to identifying and defining the nature of the debt and other finance that’s going into the project, so I mean these aren’t arbitrary decisions that are made, they are subjected to standards on the accounts, and they’re meeting those standards and we expect they will continue to.”

An hour before Rue stepped in front of the joint committee, Aussie Broadband managing director Phillip Britt took to Reddit for an Ask Me Anything session.

Britt said the CVC pricing from the NBN is preventing the company from offering unlimited data plans on speeds faster than 100Mbps.

“The CVC pricing construct is the primary limiter here, we’ve only got 2.5Mbps of CVC allocated under the bundled model and someone on an unlimited plan on those higher tiers would have the potential to really cause some damage,” Britt said.

Contrary to those running the NBN, the Aussie Broadband boss believes the only way for NBN prices to come down is via a write-down.

“I believe we will see the price of the 100Mbps tier reduce over time, but it will require a government write-down of NBN for this to occur. They can’t hold onto the AU$51 [average revenue per user] amounts they are trying to achieve because the mobile guys will wipe the floor with them,” Britt said.

Britt warned that services such as 5G fixed-wireless will put pressure on pricing and hit the NBN’s profitability, meaning that the write-down will be required before any cut flows to consumers, which Britt predicted could come with a change of government.

“I don’t believe we will see higher than 100/40Mbps for a ‘reasonable’ say under AU$100 price point anytime soon,” he said.

Also see: Good enough 5G fixed-wireless broadband could change everything

On the business side, the MD said Aussie Broadband is looking to double its customer base to 200,000 in the next 12 months, and has 26 percent of its customers on 100Mbps plans. Britt also flagged that Aussie Broadband would look to introduce a NetComm 4G backup modem in 2019.

Contrary to the narrative on social media, Britt said the NBN are “actually not bad” to work with, and “genuinely” try to help.

“The most frustrating part for us is customers who have unrealistic expectations, and they don’t take what we tell them as being the best we can possibly do,” he said.

Ever since the NBN relaunched its hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) network, Britt said Aussie Broadband had seen improved performance, and the network has become much more stable.

As a middle ground between price and speed, Britt said fibre-to-the-curb is the better solution than returning back to full fibre-to-the-premises, and should be added as an option to NBN’s Technology Choices program that allows users to pay for a better connection technology.

“I think the ship has sailed on that one, I think the best we can hope for is more FttC in the network,” he said.

(Image: APH)

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How To Use PS5’s Screen Reader Accessibility Feature (And Why You Might Want To)

Published

26 mins ago

June 4, 2023

Francisco Peguero

The Screen Reader is one of the many features available in the PlayStation 5’s accessibility suite. In a nutshell, it’s a digital narrator that can automatically parse and read out any text that appears on screen while using a PS5. This means that Screen Reader can also provide audible instructions for the general operation of your PS5 console, which is another useful reason to turn it on.

Activating your PS5’s Screen Reader is as simple as flipping a switch in the console’s settings.

From the PS5 Home screen, open the Settings menu.
Open the Accessibility options.
Open the Screen Reader tab.
Activate the Enable Screen Reader toggle.

From the Screen Reader options menu, you can also control the rate at which the narrator speaks, whether it uses a masculine or feminine voice, and the volume of the narration. Additionally, while the default language of the Screen Reader is set to whatever your console’s language is, the Screen Reader has full support for 12 different languages. The supported languages include Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

Finally, you can use your controller to start and stop the narration midway. Press the PS and Triangle buttons together to pause and play the narration or press the PS and R1 buttons to start the narration over from the beginning. If you ever get tired of hearing the narrator or you have enabled it accidentally, you can always toggle it back off from the Screen Reader options menu.

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5 Emergency Tools You Should Always Keep In Your Car

Published

2 hours ago

June 3, 2023

Francisco Peguero

You probably remember at least one time in your childhood when your parents’ car needed a jump from a neighbor using jumper cables. In recent years, however, jump starter batteries that you can keep inside your car have become cheaper and more prevalent, and they’re now a must-have for your vehicle. The upside to having a portable battery you can jump your car with is obvious — you don’t need to rely on another vehicle or willing driver to bring your car back to life. This is especially crucial if you’re in an isolated area or it’s the middle of the night.

Jump starter batteries have a few caveats, as they are more expensive than cables, take up slightly more space, and, most importantly, you need to remember to keep them charged. However, their benefits outweigh these slight inconveniences, and it’s worth buying a good one even if they can get a little pricey.

This jump starter battery from DeWalt retails at $182, but it comes with everything you need. That includes LED lights to see your engine in the dark, an alarm if you’re not connecting to your battery correctly, a power bank to charge your phone, and even an air compressor. Plus, it’s also built to work in cold weather.

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5 Workflow Generative AI Tools That Could Soon Help Make Your Job Easier

Published

6 hours ago

June 3, 2023

Francisco Peguero

While Bing Chat may have gotten a lot of attention, it isn’t the only Microsoft product that has had its functionality enhanced by the addition of AI. Microsoft 365 Copilot integrates AI across the Microsoft 365 suite, allowing it to pull information from multiple sources and significantly improve your productivity.

Copilot can now be used for creative purposes in Word, Powerpoint, Outlook, Teams, and even Viva Engage. It can be used to write, edit and otherwise generate documents, reports, presentations, emails, questions, messages, and more. Furthermore, with its integration into Excel, Copilot can also be used as a powerful data analysis tool, giving you deep insights into your data in response to simply-worded questions, even generating models and visualizations as needed.

These implementations significantly increase the capabilities of each of the Microsoft 365 programs they have been added to. However, what really sets Copilot apart from many other implementations of generative AI is its ability to draw information from across Microsoft 365 and combine it for whatever you may require. This feature is called Business Chat and allows you to pull information from multiple sources, such as your email, calendar, and chats, all at once. You can have it generate updates, overviews, reports, and more so you can stay up to speed while keeping your team similarly informed.