The path to enlightenment rarely runs smooth. Just when the pieces of some long unresolved puzzle seem set to fall into place, the dark hand of perversity throws a wobbly. That at least must be how it seems right now in Australia.

Just weeks away from a general election the opposition has decided to throw a wild card - threatening to unstitch the carefully made plans for economic and societal development by re-melding the ground-breaking fibre-to-the-home (FttH) project. They can, they think, get by with a motley mix of fixes, patches and reliance on last generation technology.

The Australian national broadband plan – and particularly the separation of FttH access utility investment from the multiple competitive services that can travel across those local fibre networks – is a shining global example of forward thinking.  It will play a huge role in driving growth in the Australian national economy and attract large increases in inward investment across many sectors.

When thinking about broadband is still constrained by an inability to imagine why high capacities and low latencies are so vital – failing to add up all the different things that can happen at the same time on the same slender fibre – last-generation planners tend to assume that they could, perhaps, get by with gradual upgrades to old infrastructure.

But, and this is Australia’s brilliance, the shift away from copper to fibre is not an upgrade – it is a switchover to an entirely new infrastructure environment. The plan sends a significant message to those old-world countries who have not yet fully understood the linkages between long-term infrastructure investment, economic growth and societal development.

But when did citizens vote for long term investment rather than tax breaks today?  Patches are for pirates.  Responsible leadership is all about having the vision and energy to see that the real judges of their endeavours will be the next generation – those whose votes will not be counted until long after the next parliament - and the businesses that do not exist (and cannot be imagined) today.  But, with poor fielding, catches get dropped.  All too often folks let go of things they have not fully grasped.

Broadband thinkers in Australia have been inspired by the national plan to lead the world in articulating fresh ideas and embracing this scope for trans-sector transformation. Australians need to hope that enough of their fellow citizens have understood the message.   If they choose to stand on the shoulders of their giants, they will see the future more clearly.

___________________________________

UK viewers reading this editorial also read 'Communicating Communications'

For further commentary on the Australian national broadband network see BuddeBlog and TelecomTV's interview with Minister Stephen Conroy

Post Script (added 7th September 2010):  'Australian Election: NBN remains on track' - a commentary that urges the government to give more attention to 'trans-sector' policies, better, top-down, policy communication and greater transparency in respect of financial planning as the deployments roll forward.

PPS (aaded 26th November 2010) - Australian NBN will be built - see commentary by Paul Budde.