Marketing the NBN left up to RSPs?
In October last year the federal government announced it would inject $20 million into a marketing campaign to dispel misconceptions about the NBN.
However, NBN Co has been criticised for a lack of marketing about the network in states such as Tasmania.
Andrew Connor, spokesperson for Digital Tasmania, has previously said while there is some awareness of the network in the state, there is still some scepticism about the NBN due to the federal opposition spreading “misinformation” about the cost of the network and delays.
“Overwhelmingly we do support the NBN, but obviously the sales jobs can be improved and at times Digital Tasmania feels like it’s doing the sales job for the NBN down here. It feels like we’re doing the job of promoting the NBN in Tasmania or setting the record straight,” Connor says.
Bader says RSPs have been partially responsible for selling the NBN to customers, particularly to business customers.
“Some of the trials that are happening around the country at the moment on high-definition video for psychiatric counselling and if you look at the ageing population wanting to keep people in their homes … it’s ludicrous the opportunity that we as a country have,” he says.
“That sort of stuff I don’t think is being … successfully sold by the federal government and NBN [Co] as to what the future holds.”
However, he says it is partially the responsibility of RSPs to sell the network to their customers.
“We’re competitive businesses fighting for customers, so in a normal market that takes care of itself. The NBN, for right or wrong, has been politicised, as you would always expect it to be,” he says.
“If we could have afforded to just say ‘we’re doing this because it’s the equivalent of the 21st century road’, I think people would have gotten on with it. And the fact that it’s not something that we can turn on overnight – there’s a lot of reasons outside of people’s control as to why this message has got diluted. But honestly I do think we will see that change.”
While NBN Co has been holding seminars and education sessions on the NBN around Australia, iiNet has also been running NBN workshops in Tasmania for government and small business customers.
“A small business owner is understandably concerned about any change. They’re worried about potential impacts to their business and our job is to just educate and walk them through [the changes] so it’s a completely painless procedure,” he says.
The NBN to push innovation
Despite the challenges associated with getting people on-board with the NBN, Bader says he is a big supporter of the network and the opportunities it will bring.
For example, he said the NBN will have a significant impact on education at the university level – he says the NBN will mean students are no longer geographically bound to a university in their local area and could, theoretically, gain a distance education from universities like Harvard.
“That’s an example where they’re going to have fundamental change. That’s what’s exciting … I think there’s going to be a whole raft of innovators that pop out of this over the next few years,” he says.
“For providers like ourselves, the world is going to get interesting as we differentiate in the levels of services that apply over-the-top, whether it be Microsoft Exchange or Linked from a business customer point-of-view.
“That’s where the real differentiation is going to come. It’s going to take a while, unfortunately, because of the build program, but we’ll get there and we’ll end up with a pretty interesting and pretty exciting future.”
Yesterday, the CSIRO announced a $40 million program, the Digital Productivity and Services Flagship, which aims to lift Australia’s productivity through research in four key areas – government; commercial; health; and smart infrastructure – and how to optimise Australia's use of the NBN.
Bader also believes the NBN will be key to Australia's economic growth and likens the NBN to other infrastructure in Australia, such as roads and sewerage networks.
“It’s a backbone infrastructure that will fuel our economy for years and years to come,” he says.
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