Key takeaways

• NBN Co has outlined several potential opportunities presented by the rollout of NBN for business
• Households who have already adopted the NBN have cited faster internet as their motivation, which presents opportunities for business for reaching potential and existing customers
• A key opportunity for business will be to exploit faster internet speeds by transitioning the stakeholder relationship from low bandwidth to high bandwidth.

The NBN is slowly but surely being rolled out across the country over the next three years. This means over five million homes and businesses are set to reap benefits outlined by NBN Co such as being able to better respond to buyer behaviour, compete on a national and global scale, improve customer relationship management, better retain staff and streamline business processes.

So amid all the debate, politics and layers to the NBN rollout, how will business, and as a result industry, both be impacted by and benefit from the NBN?

NBN for business- What’s the panic?

The NBN rollout, although already begun, isn’t exactly happening overnight. The Government has reduced its investment into the NBN in the latest federal budget, and this smaller commitment is also at the mercy of a federal election; not to mention further debate and controversy.

But as we know, gradual changes and the political climate are not reasons for businesses to rest on their laurels when it comes to exploiting future opportunities.

In the context of possibilities for the NBN, it might be timely for enterprises to ask, how do we make the best use of (pledged) unprecedented internet speeds across key measurables such as customer service, streamlining and efficiency, staff engagement and changing consumer demand?

NBN inside the enterprise

PwC’s latest Digital IQ survey revealed that the most technology- savvy organisations were those achieving the best bottom line results. The research shows those companies with a digital mindset are both thinking digitally, and bringing their staff and stakeholders on the technology journey with them.

What about Big Data? An ever- expanding belt of bandwidth supposedly means more data morsels can fit down the storage gullet, all of which lead to better knowledge of paths to purchase, uncovering more-individual-than-ever individual information, enabling a shift towards leveraging the availability of data more than before.

NBN in the marketplace

One study of households in an area where the NBN has already been implemented, Broadbanding Brunswick, showed that those households who had taken up NBN had done so mainly because of internet speed and data capacity. Potential and existing customers are literally connected to life via multiple screens.

According to PwC’s online shopping report Australians have flocked to the digital arena in order to browse for, compare and purchase products, motivated by price, product range and convenience. Service providers such as Australia Post have come up with solutions both for consumers to manage their lives and to pick up parcels outside of business hours.

The health industry has now long been investing in digital through both online user tools and relevant, cutting edge content through digital publications and apps containing everything a health conscious individual needs to know around which foods to eat, exercise trends, self- diagnosis tools and BMI calculators.

It also seems the NBN will have implications for business in terms of reach to remote areas and endless other innovations not currently being exploited.

From low bandwidth to high bandwidth- the changed customer relationship

PwC Digital Change director Anthony Mittelmark says the NBN is a potential enabler for faster broadband, where the real challenge for business will be in exploiting expanded bandwidth.

“We thought we had broadband capacity back when we were running a 256/64 kbit/s modem through the phone line. Since then we’ve seen broadband capacity redefined to gigabits then terrabits, and it’ll keep growing as connections get faster.

“A key challenge for business will be in exploiting expanded bandwidth resulting from the NBN rollout. Currently, online enterprises have a low bandwidth relationship with customers, where their platforms allow for ‘slow’ internet speeds and use compression to make sure the end user receives the data.

“The real business opportunity will be in growing with the bandwidth and turning this low bandwidth relationship into a high bandwidth relationship with customers”.

Businesses will be well placed to look at their digital strategy in the context of what the NBN could mean for their future success, inside and out.

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