COMMENT

Is the federal government duping us to get us on to its national broadband network (NBN) by decommissioning Telstra’s copper network? I think they are and I think it is for our own good.

David Bartlett, Julia Gillard and Stephen Conroy launch the NBN in Tasmania.

Accept it: It’s coming and it’s a free connection!



The thought of "bribery" being used was brought up in one of the comments in an article I wrote on the NBN last Friday (sadly I can't find the comment now, but I promise you it was there).

The article reported that if you didn’t connect to the NBN as it is rolled out - at least in the Tasmanian stage one rollout - then you would be charged a connection fee of up to $300 later if you did want to be connected so you could still use your phone.



See, the federal government has a non-binding agreement with Telstra that will decommission - or turn off - its copper network. Your telephone (if you still have one) or your ADSL modem currently connects to the internet via the copper network.



Once the NBN comes along - and if Telstra do decide to decommission their network - then you’re not going to be able to use either technologies unless you connect to the NBN.



And if you didn’t connect as it was initially rolled out for free, then you’ll be charged that connection fee.



It’s hardly “bribery” though, is it? Accept the free connection in the first place, some comments said at the bottom of the article.