[LINK] Labor commits to $4.5b high-speed Internet network

[Tom Worthington]

At 03:57 PM 21/03/2007, Bernard Robertson-Dunn wrote:
>Labor commits to $4.5b high-speed Internet network  ABC news 
>http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200703/s1877739.htm
>
>The Federal Labor leader Kevin Rudd has pledged more than $4.5 
>billion to build a nationwide Internet broadband network. ...

The choice of 12 megabits per second seems to be based on what is 
possible with current ADSL technology and feasible with wireless in 
the near future. This would be enough to stream HDTV, regulatory 
issues permitting.

The ALP proposal seems similar to the G9 is "SpeedReach" proposal 
from a consortium of just about everyone in Australian 
telecommunications, except Telstra 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G9_(consortium)>. For Telstra to be 
included there would have had to be regulatory changes, which the ALP 
is proposing.

There might also be a place for Paul Budde's UtiliTel proposal for a 
consortium of power utilities to provide telecommunications 
<http://www.budde.com.au/Reports/Contents/Australia-UtiliTel-2685.html>.

The issues remain: how to get the data the last few hundred metres 
from a fibre optic cable into each home and how to service people in 
rural areas. For for very dense urban areas, such as the apartment 
building I live in, Ethernet on copper cables can be used 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/2001/sa/rt.html>. For suburban homes ADSL and 
copper cables seem most suitable. For rural areas, one solution used 
in India is ther wireless local loop 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2005/12/cybercafes-in-mapusa.html>.

There is a little more detail of the ALP proposal, but not much, on 
the ALP web site:

Building a National Broadband Network, Kevin Rudd, Press Conference, 
ALP, 21 March 2007 <http://alp.org.au/media/0307/pcloo210.php>: 
"We're proposing to invest up to $4.7 billion in this proposal in a 
partnership with the private sector for it to be constructed over a 
five year period which will deliver for
98 per cent of Australians, a broadband service which is up to 40 
times faster than they currently enjoy. ..."

Federal Labor's Commitment To National Broadband, Simon Crean, Media 
Statement, ALP, 21 March 2007 <http://alp.org.au/media/0307/msrd210.php>:

"With the rollout of a new 'Fibre to the Node' (FTTN) network, it 
will connect 98% of Australians to high speed broadband services - at 
a minimum speed of 12 megabits per second, a speed almost 40 times 
faster than most current speeds.

The remaining 2% of Australians in regional and remote areas not 
covered by this network will have improved broadband services. ..."



Tom Worthington FACS HLM tom.worthington at tomw.net.au Ph: 0419 496150
Director, Tomw Communications Pty Ltd            ABN: 17 088 714 309
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617                http://www.tomw.net.au/
Visiting Fellow, ANU      Blog: http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/atom.xml