Faster broadband is the next infrastructure debacle

The national broadband network is shaping up like many recent infrastructure public-private partnerships, such as the Cross City Tunnel and BrisCon, a splendid engineering project with a dubious business case (''Conroy's baby needs to get out of the cradle'', September 9). The demand side seems to have been developed by intellectuals and vested interest groups, with no account given to the ultimate consumer demand. No business would invest $43 billion without a rock solid business case. As a director of one of the largest IT support businesses in Australia, I can see there is little growth in extending reach or coverage, with broadband penetration in business now over 95 per cent, and homes about 90 per cent. That means demand must come from additional or improved services. Demand growth for broadband speed is subject to the law of diminishing returns: the jump from dial-up to broadband was huge, while the step from ADSL to ADSL2 gave us a better performance but really didn't change our applications. Will the average user pay $140 a month more for fibre-to-the-node - for an email to arrive half a second faster or to cut banking time by a few seconds? Or are we building a gaming and media platform with no view of consumer value? Advertisement: Story continues below It seems we will see our tax dollars spent on a "big idea", instead of addressing key segments of need such as rural areas and the economically disadvantaged. They could be much more efficiently serviced by a range of technologies beyond fibre-to-the-node. Unless the demand side of the business case for Rosetta Stone Chinese the network is more clearly articulated and a concrete demand forecast developed, we risk it becoming a gigantic economic burden for years to come. Nick Roche Northbridge Idiocy is not a disability, as Steve Fielding proves I don't think Steve Fielding is stupid because he can't spell - some of the smartest people I know are not very good spellers (Letters, September 10). I think he is stupid because he repeated "physical stimulus" three times and then went on to spell out F-I-S-K-A-L, in the knowledge that he is a poor speller. If you have a learning difficulty that renders spelling difficult, surely you would avoid spelling on national television unless absolutely necessary. This is not about discrimination against someone with a disability, it is about discrimination against someone who is an idiot. Eliza Twaddell North Sydney Perhaps Senator Fielding's awareness of his dyslexia should have made him a little cautious of suggesting he was going to ''make it quite clear'' by attempting to spell a word. Allan Ewing Pearce (ACT) Peter Carroll (Letters, September 10), as with George Bush and Sarah Palin, the incessant mockery of the ''open minded'' Senator Fielding is, and should be, to do with what he says, rather than the way he says it. Cameron Blunsden Mayfield No, Peter Carroll, Steve Fielding is not independent. He represents Family First, a party associated with the conservative Assemblies of God. Jan McCarthy Blackheath Miranda Devine says Steve Fielding ''hasn't been assessed with a specific learning difficulty'' (''Bullies seize on slip of the tongue'', September 10). In other words, all Fielding has is an inability to articulate basic thought and language, as evidenced by several embarrassing stumbles in Parliament. This should not be confused with a diagnosed learning disability. Sam Butler Erskineville J-Alice Hofler (Letters, September 10) says becoming a senator is no small thing. Yet Senator Fielding received only 1.8 per cent of the primary vote and gained his position because the Victorian Labor Party, through fear of the Greens, allocated preferences to Family First.

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