ONE of Australia's most successful dotcom entrepreneurs has branded the National Broadband Network a potential "$43 billion hi-tech babysitter".

This has added to the growing chorus of industry criticism of the federal government's internet plans.

Graeme Wood, founder of the online travel bookings service Wotif.com, yesterday questioned the value of pouring taxpayer funds into a data speedway that most households would use to download games and movies.

Read Next

"If all you're doing is speeding up the rate at which we entertain ourselves, can you justify that from a public expenditure point of view?" he told The Australian.

"Is there any value to society in just delivering entertainment faster . . . to have more dots on the screens? The public debate hasn't been had, not just in terms of the GDP impact of broadband, but on the costs (and) benefits to society."

Billionaire miner Andrew Forrest yesterday also joined the criticism of the government's reluctance to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the proposed network, which will deliver internet speeds of 100 megabits per second to most Australians.

"I worry about the NBN because that hasn't even got a feasibility study on it," Mr Forrest, founder of Fortescue Metals Group, told an Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce function in Sydney. "That $40bn - is it the best technology? To build it without a study . . . as a mum or a dad, you should be scared."

Earlier this month, independent MP Tony Windsor cited the rollout of the NBN as the key reason he threw his support behind Labor to form government.

Tony Abbott yesterday insisted the Coalition would continue to push its more modest broadband plans. But Liberal finance spokesman Andrew Robb, who will lead the Coalition's post-election policy review, yesterday admitted the Liberals had failed to sell their alternative internet plan to voters at the last election.

"We didn't do a good enough job - myself included," he told The Australian. "We put it out far too late. No one understands our policy. That's our fault."

Mr Robb said the proposal would have involved laying "a competitive backbone of fibre".

"We would have had in remote Australia a full satellite service in 30 months," he said, "but we took a long time to get it into a final form which we felt was properly costed, was robust."

Despite his criticism of the NBN, Mr Wood, who opened the World Computing Congress in Brisbane this week, yesterday criticised the Coalition's plans to demolish the government's broadband network. He noted that opposition spokesman on communications and broadband, millionaire Malcolm Turnbull, had made much of his fortune from the dotcom revolution.

Mr Wood said broadband would be "a great boon for businesses", and for educational and medical services. But he said the government needed a policy to encourage "more positive returns to society".

Mr Wood, whose internet start-up has grown into a $1.4bn business in a decade, said the government should consider the impact on children, and consider ratings to show the educational value of web-based games.

"Which part of that $43bn investment is going to provide hi-tech babysitting?" he said. "What are the costs to society if people spend an extra two hours in front of the screen instead of getting out and walking the dog or talking to their neighbour?"

Mr Wood joins the chorus of concern from the internet industry about the $43bn price tag of the NBN.

Michael Malone, chief executive of iiNet, Australia's third biggest internet service provider, this month called for greater transparency on the costs and benefits.

Entrepreneur Dick Smith complained last month the NBN had "never been properly costed".

And Vocus Communications chief executive James Spenceley last month likened the NBN to "giving everyone a Ferrari" when they might be content with driving a Commodore.

Mr Wood called on the government to introduce tax incentives for internet innovation, along the lines of the breaks that fuelled Australia's film industry in the 1990s. "The government should learn from the mistakes . . . if it is done, deductions should be based on the success of the venture," he said. "It could be based on some kind of tax holiday for successful new ventures."

Mr Wood said Australia could not continue its reliance on being "a quarry" for miners. "We've got to come up with new ideas in Australia . . . If we don't take a position soon, we will be left behind because the venture capital industry in Australia is languishing. " The whole digital industry in Australia is not in good shape."

Mr Wood also accused the federal government of kowtowing to BHP Billiton boss Marius Kloppers over the mining tax and the emissions trading scheme. "For one person in business to have such an impact on government policy is quite extraordinary," he said. "So who's running the joint? Is it the bloody government running us or is it Marius Kloppers?"

Additional reporting: AAP



Read Next