Impact of the NBN on Our Economy

Telstra

We completed two related projects for Telstra, one in Sydney and one in Melbourne. Each project firstly modelled the effect of the NBN on house prices in outer suburbs. We then analysed how a greater take-up of telecommuting (enabled by the NBN and smart home technologies) might impact on life in our major metropolitan areas. It does this by reducing household commuting costs, decreasing traffic congestion; lowering some household expenses and even reducing air pollution.

Overall, we found there was potential for the NBN to reinvigorate suburban villages. More people working from home means a bigger daytime population in commuter suburbs. That means more local spending during the day. In fact, analysis we did of spending in central Melbourne by commuters suggested something like $4 billion per year flowed from the suburbs to the City just in commuter discretionary spending (that’s a lot of lunches). With more working from home, some of that money will be spent locally. The results were used by Telstra to promote the value of the NBN roll-out to households, to urban villages and to city efficiency. One of us even got the opportunity to go on TV to talk about it.