Coalition NBN will deliver residents with more affordable fast broadband says Fletcher

Bradfield residents and businesses will benefit from the Coalition’s plan to build a more affordable NBN and deliver it sooner than Labor’s NBN said Paul Fletcher MP, Federal Member for Bradfield

‘As a former telecommunications executive I am a strong believer in the importance of improving Australia's broadband infrastructure’, Mr Fletcher said.

‘The policy the Coalition has now released sets out a detailed blueprint for how we will deliver the NBN, and I am looking forward to working with Malcolm Turnbull and the Coalition team on delivering the plan.

‘When it comes to fast broadband, Labor has promised big but hasn’t delivered.

‘Kevin Rudd promised everyone Australian fast broadband by 2013 at a cost of $4.7 billion.  Instead, the NBN has only signed up 10,400 users for its fibre network and the final cost is expected to be over $90 billion.

‘Families, small businesses, schools and hospitals need fast broadband now and not sometime after 2021 which will happen under Labor’s plan.

‘Our plan will deliver the NBN sooner, at less cost to taxpayers and more affordably for consumers. 

‘We’ll get the NBN back on track’.

The Coalition’s Plan for Fast Broadband and an Affordable NBN will:

• Ensure households and businesses can get access to fast broadband by the end of 2016 – with download speeds five times today’s average.
• End the delays and cost overruns and get the NBN back on track through better management, greater transparency and tighter controls.
• Give priority to regions and suburbs with the poorest existing service in the rollout.
• Deliver a more affordable NBN than Labor –saving consumers about $300 a year by 2021.
• Deliver a smarter NBN that uses a mix of technologies.  Our plan will cost less and make the NBN more economically viable.
• Lesson the strain on taxpayers who could be expected to bear the burden of Labor’s delayed and mismanaged $90 billion plus NBN.

A full copy of the Coalition’s NBN Policy is available at www.liberal.org.au.