These mediums aren't comparable as you need one (fibre) for the other (cellular) to work.

5g is not a standard yet and hasn't been ratified.
1 gigabits a second may sound impressive - until you realise that that is per cell and there may be hundreds or even thousands of users per cell.
There are also spectrum and data limitations (fixed connections have 500gb a month versus wireless with 4gb a month).
Finally - if you want fast wireless internet, you need a fibre backbone anyway.

Anyone who thinks everyone can use cellular without congestion issues, data issues and drop outs needs to do some research - it's against the laws of physics and won't be possible for the foreseeable future.

BlOoDy RiPpEr

I know many people who live in 4G areas in Sydney are now replacing their ADSL with a a 4G connection as the get faster speeds than their ADSL which is determine by the distance from the exchange.

Where I life there is no 4G (it starts about 5-10 km down the road) I get about 6-8 MB/sec out of my ADSL which does the job for me at a very low price.

5G is a way off and may indeed replace 4G ... but this technology is expensive and takes time to roll out. 4G is only partially rolled out and mostly around the capitals, so effective 5G good be a long time off.

What the NBN (Fibre to the home) or the alternative cheaper fibre to the node will deliver is better delivery from the server side of the equation which ADLS/Cable and mobile BB does not deliver. Often that is not the problem with slow speeds, popular websites often its the server farm capacity does not match the volumes that occur. NBN won't solve that problems, IT platform costs are growing rapidly to the point where there is boom in hosted environments with high grade servers and high speed infrastructure. Its a booming cost for many of the big corporates and governments who are now looking a leasing such as opposed to building and owning.

My view is the NBN is just another phoney war the ALP are trying to create.

There is no crisis in the Internet connection and usage.

BlOoDy RiPpEr wrote on May 17^th, 2013 at 8:33am:

The private sector has had years to build a version of the NBN. I know telstra was kicking the idea round back in the day, but the upfront capital costs are simply too great for private enterprise, plus there is very little incentive for them to extend the network to 95% of Australians, when it would be more profitable to simply build the network in the capital cities and once again, bugger the bush over.

donincognito wrote on May 17^th, 2013 at 9:58am:


donincognito

They have developed a solid fibre back bone which is doing ok Job, there is no crisis nor is there a need for an NBN..... its a nice to have. The risk with the NBN roll out is whether it will become legacy very soon, as a retail fibre to the house its both not necessary and will be under threat from cheaper technologies.

RightSadFred wrote on May 17^th, 2013 at 10:52am:


You must be kidding.

We are relying on equipment stamped with logo for a company that hasnt existed for 20 years. We are relying on copper runs in tunnels that flood. We are relying on outdated, rotting infrastructure that is purposely being left unfixed because its cheaper to do that and fix the faults as people complain than it is to do preventative maintenance.

We either (1) spend a shitload of money fixing all the problems in the existing network (which still doesnt reach all the way to the bush and has huge technical limitations like distance from the node and such) and then spend a shitload of money to update it to the latest technology. or (2) Spend a shitload of money to update to the latest technology.

Would you like to spend a shitload of money once, or twice to achieve the same outcome? poo, the head of Telstra said "Do it once, do it right, Do it with Fiber."

And make no mistake, the opportunities given by this are immense. Think of all the different uses of the road system. The NBN is going to be more revolutionary than that. There is no threat from cheaper technologies. There is no threat of obsolescence. Private enterprise cannot and will not do this.

Quote:


Do you?

The nbn is also investing in a fibre backbone (because private companies didn't want to).

Unlike Telstra, the nbn has no retail presence and will offer a much fairer retail structure by selling access to RSP's.

Thanks to the coalition we currently have a situation where the owner of the network also has a retail arm.

Fit of Absent Mindeness wrote on May 17^th, 2013 at 8:18am:


It's wireless Internet for rich people.