How is the NBN Going to Affect your Business

By: Jason Neville

It's a sad day for Australia. Ranking the speed of broadband across the Top 30 Countries, Australia sits at #26th beating the technology "heavyweights" of Mexico and Greece.

Sarcasm is difficult to get across on a computer but I hope you got my point. Yes, I like many other Aussie IT consultants am pretty angry that New Zealand has a faster broadband network than us. The National Broadband Network is going to change the way Australian's work and live. Whether it is overkill with it's $43 billion dollar price tag, or essential infrastructure to see Australia keep pace with the rest of the world, one thing is certain; it's coming and happening as we speak..

The first trials are already underway in Tasmania - after which it will be rolled out to 5 "First Release Sites" which essentially demonstrate the different challenges the NBN Builders expect to have during the rollout.

With my keen interest in the NBN, you'll probably all be sad to know that after extensive reading on the subject Brisbane is still well over 3 years away from getting any kind of functioning NBN product (Particularly with Minister Conroy redesigning the rollout table earlier this month to focus more on  rural areas).

So what is the NBN? The NBN is essentially a very large optical fibre network eventually covering 93% of Australia that will give speeds up to 100mb/s, or the equivalent of any person or business plugging a "blue cable" directly into "the internet". The NBNCo will act as the wholesaler, allowing retailers to then sell the product to the consumer. Of course there are obvious benefits, such as improved speed/surfing/video watching over the internet, but how will it change the way we do business?

• More Speed - This is obvious. Internet speeds will go up dramatically. This does have some implications for businesses of course. You won't get the 12mb attachment limit on your emails, more like 150mb limit attachments.You won't need CD's, or be carrying around USB sticks you will have your own storage drive hosted in the cloud which you'll access via a secure web page for any personal files.
• Less Infrastructure - Chances are if you multiple offices or have a requirement for remote access to your systems you currently own a Terminal Server or a Citrix Server. Having a "Blue Cable" (read 100mb/s link on the NBN) between youroffices, or from your house to the office eliminates the need to have this type of technology. I recently spoke to an IT consultant working in Sweden who had not even used a Terminal Server ever because the whole country has fibre to the home! This is going to save many businesses money on server and support costs in the long run
• VoIP - VoIP is an incredible technology that is gaining traction. The big concern is ensuring the quality of the calls are consistent, which is sometimes a challenge with Australia's limited broadband connectivity. The NBN will deliver super high speed, ensuring that the quality of the calls is perfect. Similarly, Teleconferencing will become and even greater product for "remote meetings" saving travel time and travel expenses. By this time, high definition cameras will sit atop plasma screens in board rooms across Australia.
• More Cloud Services - Undoubtedly the NBN will usher in a new wave of technologies capable of being delivered across the internet. Even with Australia's poor current broadband standards, publicly listed companies and national organisations are moving their desktops to the cloud on our IaaS platform. So what is achievable if we can increase broadband speeds by 10x? Chances are once the NBN rolls out, you will be running a hosted phone system with voip, cloud desktops, cloud backups, staff training delivered via remote teleconferencing for half the price and maybe even a cloud receptionist?

The NBN is going to bring incredible opportunities to business in Australia, allowing them to operate in a more integrated, highly connected fashion which is not currently achievable due to a current internet platform built on a old copper phone network. Now... maybe if they could shave about $33 billion off the pricetag....

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