NBN alternative Internet service provider Spirit Telecom has launched a back-up Internet service that will remain redundant until it is needed, under the name Redundancy-as-a-Service.

The old argument over what came first — the chicken or the egg — has been regurgitated in a somewhat different way by Communications Minister Mitch Fifield. Only his arguments revolve around speed and the cost of NBN subscriptions.

A write-down of the national broadband network is now firmly on the cards after the competition watchdog joined the chorus supporting it, according to telecommunications analyst Paul Budde.