“High Speed Broadband” has been talked about since it was proposed by the Howard Coalition Government (1996-2007). Since then there has been countless changes, adjustments and debates over the National Broadband Network.

It was first introduced by the Labor government in 2009 with the intention of proving high-speed broadband to all Australian residents, however they came across three complications; first the cost of the project, second the speed of fibre to premises (FTTP) infrastructure, and lastly the need for “adequate level of connection speed.” As a result, this is a topic that is constantly being debated as politicians attempt to come up with the most effective and cost efficient plan.

While people work to come up with the best possible plan it is worth looking at the perception of speed. According to the article, while there a certain measures of the speed of connection, the experience of internet speed is much more complex. The experience of internet speed is influenced by numerous factors such as computer process speed, the reliability of internet connection, and how many device are using the same connection just to name a few. Furthermore, it was discovered from a study of household adoption in Brunswick, that while people understood their downloads and the internet providers, they were “much less knowledgeable about data speeds.” Because of this, there is no wonder why there have been so many changes to the NBN. It is difficult of anyone to understand the strengths and limitations of the technology available, and furthermore, it is even more difficult to determine what is a good investment for the countries future.

What makes things even more confusing is the terminology. Due to the discussion os internet speed, the process has been reduced to a single number or description of speed which does not acknowledge the complexity of the technology. Terms have varied from “super-fast,” “ultra fast,” and “high-speed.” But once again these are all relative. It is impossible to accurately describe the technology by saying “high-speed” which further demonstrates how the Coalition have over simplified this plan.