Why Ruddnet will never work

In my previous posts on OneTel Mk II, or Ruddnet, as some are calling it, I cast aspersions on the financial unviability of the project. It's never going to make a cent unless consumers are bilked for at least $150 a month for the service, up from say $50 today.

From the SMH today:

A survey by the Wesley Mission, conducted in December, shows Sydney residents were financially worse off than they were when surveyed two years earlier. Almost one in three Sydneysiders said it would be difficult or impossible to cope with a $160 increase in their monthly expenses compared with 14 per cent in August 2006. There was also a near doubling in the numbers who would find it difficult or impossible to raise $2000 on short notice, rising to 30 per cent of Sydney residents. And 23 per cent could not pay their electricity, gas or telephone bills on time compared with 13 per cent in 2006.

I always, always take these surveys with a pinch of salt, since they are usually self serving trash, designed to push a particular agenda. However, most people don't, and they accept them without any critical analysis, so the body politic from today will accept this as fact.

Still, it's interesting that this survey has supposedly found that 1/3 of the population in our wealthiest city could not cope with the sort of increase in cost that Ruddnet would bring.

On almost every indicator, sole parents were worse off than others even though they were the household type most likely to have drawn up a budget. Almost half said they would need to make "major sacrifices" to meet extra monthly expenses of $160

I guess there goes that market.