The New Broadband Network Coming to Australia
Only a few months ago the Labor led government in Australia confirmed plans to invest AU$34.
7 billion in upgrading the country's broadband network.
The idea was that within 10 years, 93% of the population would have access to faster fibre-optic broadband connections with the 7% of the population living in more rural areas guaranteed access via fixed wireless connections or satellite broadband.
However, despite the fact that the Australian government has promised such a major investment it seems that the plans have yet to grab the attention of the Australian public.
Delays, delays and more delays Initially there was a nine-month delay due to prolonged discussions between the government and Telstra with regards to the exact make-up of the new network.
In basic terms, Telstra has agreed a compensation deal with the Australian government to close down its existing copper broadband network and handover its customers to the new government approved broadband service network.
History tells us that politicians and the private sector do not always work together hand-in-hand and we can probably expect to experience more delays in the medium to longer term.
However, the fact we have a broad-based agreement which will see the current copper network replaced by fibre-optic technology, which will be government owned, is certainly a step in the right direction.
Renting broadband to providers Perhaps one of the reasons why the Australian population has yet to really appreciate the ongoing investment in the broadband network is the fact that to all intents and purposes they will still be dealing with the same names.
The current crop of broadband providers in Australia will effectively rent broadband capacity from the new network once it is in place.
Therefore billing will still be the same, front-end support will still be the same and the government backed and government built network will very much remain in the background.
Political confusion could follow While immigration and the economy, together with employment, will be the main subjects in the forthcoming Australian general election, broadband and new technology will be further promoted by the various parties.
Indeed the opposition parties have already confirmed that they are looking to effectively downgrade the ongoing broadband network improvements in favour of cheaper technology.
The potential cost saving from this proposed downgrade has as yet to be quantified and indeed the public will begin to wonder why the opposition parties are looking to reduce investment in technology when it is obvious that technology is the way forward.
Perhaps the run-up to the general election will bring broadband back into the public arena and hopefully we should see a very interesting debate going forward.
Conclusion When the Australian government announced a $30 billion investment package to create the country's new broadband network this was greeted with applause by many.
However, as yet the Australian public have yet to really appreciate the potential changes this investment could bring and indeed the potential employment opportunities and boost to the economy.
Opposition parties have already made their position clear, they will reduce investment in the broadband network and downgrade to a lower quality technology in the short term.
This short-term saving has the potential to be very expensive in the longer term because the proposed technology could be obsolete in a few years and upgrades limited in scope.
7 billion in upgrading the country's broadband network.
The idea was that within 10 years, 93% of the population would have access to faster fibre-optic broadband connections with the 7% of the population living in more rural areas guaranteed access via fixed wireless connections or satellite broadband.
However, despite the fact that the Australian government has promised such a major investment it seems that the plans have yet to grab the attention of the Australian public.
Delays, delays and more delays Initially there was a nine-month delay due to prolonged discussions between the government and Telstra with regards to the exact make-up of the new network.
In basic terms, Telstra has agreed a compensation deal with the Australian government to close down its existing copper broadband network and handover its customers to the new government approved broadband service network.
History tells us that politicians and the private sector do not always work together hand-in-hand and we can probably expect to experience more delays in the medium to longer term.
However, the fact we have a broad-based agreement which will see the current copper network replaced by fibre-optic technology, which will be government owned, is certainly a step in the right direction.
Renting broadband to providers Perhaps one of the reasons why the Australian population has yet to really appreciate the ongoing investment in the broadband network is the fact that to all intents and purposes they will still be dealing with the same names.
The current crop of broadband providers in Australia will effectively rent broadband capacity from the new network once it is in place.
Therefore billing will still be the same, front-end support will still be the same and the government backed and government built network will very much remain in the background.
Political confusion could follow While immigration and the economy, together with employment, will be the main subjects in the forthcoming Australian general election, broadband and new technology will be further promoted by the various parties.
Indeed the opposition parties have already confirmed that they are looking to effectively downgrade the ongoing broadband network improvements in favour of cheaper technology.
The potential cost saving from this proposed downgrade has as yet to be quantified and indeed the public will begin to wonder why the opposition parties are looking to reduce investment in technology when it is obvious that technology is the way forward.
Perhaps the run-up to the general election will bring broadband back into the public arena and hopefully we should see a very interesting debate going forward.
Conclusion When the Australian government announced a $30 billion investment package to create the country's new broadband network this was greeted with applause by many.
However, as yet the Australian public have yet to really appreciate the potential changes this investment could bring and indeed the potential employment opportunities and boost to the economy.
Opposition parties have already made their position clear, they will reduce investment in the broadband network and downgrade to a lower quality technology in the short term.
This short-term saving has the potential to be very expensive in the longer term because the proposed technology could be obsolete in a few years and upgrades limited in scope.
Source...