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National Broadband NetworkAustralia is among the leading countries whose government is actively investigating the social and economic benefits that can be achieved through the deployment of a mainly fi...

National Broadband NetworkAustralia is among the leading countries whose government is actively investigating the social and economic benefits that can be achieved through the deployment of a mainly fibre-based telecoms infrastructure. Services that depend on high quality broadband infrastructure include tele-health, e-education, e-business, digital media, e-government, smart meters etc. In countries where the national telco is lagging behind we see that local governments have no choice other than to take a leadership role, as they have done with similar infrastructure over the last 100 years.In December 2009 the OECD published its report on these issues and indicated that governments could justify the costs of fast broadband by using them to cut cost in sectors such as healthcare, education, transport and energy. On average, a cost saving of between 0.5% and 1.5% in each of these four sectors over a ten year period could justify the cost of building the NBN.Governments are now starting querying whether this basic infrastructure should not be financed in the same way as other infrastructure, by making it a national right paid for through consolidated revenue, government bonds or, as the OECD indicated, government savings.The decision from the Australian government to launch a $43 billion national FttH broadband network is a clear indication that they believe broadband is essential infrastructure. It fulfils a national purpose as its trans-sector multiplier effect delivers massive social and economic benefits in healthcare, education, energy and the environment. A digital economy requires an open broadband infrastructure, and for that to work it can only be built by a utility (NBN Co). While there certainly are questions regarding the business model and the investment plan, there is widespread support for the visionary plan. During 2010 the business model needs to be developed, which will take into account the socio-economic benefits the infrastructure can deliver to the country.Statistical Overview and ForecastBroadband statistics provided relate to the number of subscribers and market shares of major providers as well as additional data relating to DSL, cable and other broadband technologies. The total number of broadband subscribers crossed the 7.5 million mark in 2010, a 17% increase during 2009. Growth in recent years has been driven by further strong uptake of DSL subscribers, although recent growth has not as strong as the previous two years as the majority of the market has now made the transition from dial-up to broadband. In the longer term the development of a fibre optic network operated by a National Broadband operator is likely to have a significant impact on the take up of DSL or cable based servicesSegmentation is provided by dial-up/broadband and include statistics on website usage. An overview of the ISP market, including number of ISPs and market trends is also included.The business market has been quick to embrace broadband and by 2009 the vast majority of the business sector had made the transition. Further growth is continuing in 2010. As business users gradually move to faster broadband access via ADSL2+ and, when it's built, services from the fibre-based NBN, they are increasingly embracing new broadband applications. This report provides a detailed overview of the key drivers and trends behind broadband adoption in the Australian business market. New data for 2010 has been included. A number of market surveys are also included across a wide range of topics including e-business, broadband usage, IT and consumer satisfaction, and the farming sector.A range of topics are covered in relation to the usage of internet and broadband services in the residential sector. It also provides overall statistics of the residential telecoms market. It includes BuddeComm estimates of the market in 2010 and data from a number of market surveys covering consumer usage and behavioural patterns, as well as internet and broad