PHOTO GALLERY

Electricity pole destroyed and lines brought down by an errant road vehicle

Source: Peter Downey, Sydney Cables Downunder and The Newcastle Herald


The above electricity pole was destroyed and lines brought down by an errant road vehicle; imagine the impact on lifeline telecommunications if the government-mandated National Broadband Network had been attached to this pole!

Mutilated tree in a Sydney street under a pole route also supporting two HFC cables

Source: Peter Downey, Sydney Cables Downunder

A mutilated tree in a Sydney street under a pole route also supporting two HFC cables. This was made necessary to obtain the required clearance; through increased utility charges, we actually pay for this to be done! If the National Broadband Network is added to such a pole route, how can this be world’s best practice?


John Holland personnel deploying pole-to-pole National Broadband Network fibre in Scottsdale, Tasmania

Source: Digital Tasmania

John Holland personnel deploying pole-to-pole National Broadband Network fibre in Scottsdale, Tasmania. Contrary to what the Minister has confidently said in Parliament, the newly installed fibre cabling was NOT installed amongst the electricity lines such that it is inconspicuous!

IMG_3599

Source: Ross Kelso

The lower line attached to the above pole IS operational NBN cabling installed along Love Lane in the Townsville suburb of Thuringowa; when cyclone Yasi hit Townsville in February 2011, flying debris (tree branches, gal-iron roofing) brought down the NBN cabling - the very time when lifeline telecommunications are in greatest demand!

A typical street scene in an inner suburb of Melbourne, showing an old wooden electricity pole (dangerously close to the curbing - a prime target to be hit by a truck) supporting two Pay TV cables, an electricity control cable, a street light and a multitude of electricity and pay TV lead-ins;

Source: Craig Kelso

A typical street scene in an inner suburb of Melbourne, showing an old wooden electricity pole (dangerously close to the curbing - a prime target to be hit by a truck) supporting two Pay TV cables, an electricity control cable, a street light and a multitude of electricity and pay TV lead-ins; imagine if the National Broadband Network optical fibre cable is then added to this mess! How can the result be ‘next-generation infrastructure’?

A typical electricity pole in Abbotsleigh Street (suburb of Holland Park, Brisbane) carrying 11 kilovolt and 415 volt electricity lines and since 1996 additionally burdened with Optus and Telstra HFC cables - illustrating the multitude of lead-ins serving houses on both sides of the street, plus the parlous state of the wooden pole which has been augmented by the steel extender on top supporting the 11 kilovolt lines and two large steel reinforcement ‘stakes’ compensating for the rotting wood below the ground

Source: Ross Kelso
Our existing aerial electricity infrastructure is already a mess, worsened by the addition of two HFC cables installed to deliver pay TV and data services. Even though NBN Co will pay both Telstra and Optus to de-commission the data-carrying capacity of these HFC cables, at least for Telstra this means that the cabling remains insitu as Telstra remains contracted to deliver pay TV services to Foxtel. Hence at least the Telstra HFC cabling remains and even if Optus finally dismantles their HFC cabling, that would only be after the NBN cabling has been installed and commissioned on poles such as that shown above! Where would it go - below or above the HFC cables? Regardless the outcome is an unholy mess! Once again, how can the result be ‘next-generation infrastructure’?