[LINK] The PLAN, and broadband speeds?

[Eleanor Lister]

Stewart Fist wrote:
> In such circumstances, if the individual WANTS, but does not NEED fibre,
> then let him pay for it himself.  These constant claims of country people
> for equal services to those in the cities, are ridiculous when they move
> from Needs to Wants.
>
> As a taxpayer, I am only willing to contribute my share of infrastructure
> that is needed logically by people in remote areas, but not necessarily what
> they want.
>
> They choose to have this remote lifestyle, and benefit from such things as
> the tranquility of wide open spaces which is not available to people in the
> cities.  No one forces them to live there.

got out of the wrong side of the bed?  calm down and have another cup of
coffee.

country people have very good reasons for wanting (oops, needing)
broadband, as perhaps a moment's reflection will show:

* farming is for agricultural scientists, not hayseeds, these days; and
there are many documents that are useful to download, some of them quite
biggish.

* our basic communications world-wide seems to need high speed, high
volume links, and i would guess this trend increasing for some time. 
possibly it just might be a good idea to be as inclusive as possible, so
that regional folk are a vital part of our hi-tech culture, and can
contribute effectively.

* just as newspapers, radio and then television bound cultures more
tightly but increased their scope (from local to regional to national to
"western") so will the 'net bind more broadly ("global"?).  me tink it
good thang.

the whole point of good comms tech is to banish the tyranny of
geography, and to help us (re)construct our society according to our needs.

this is the exact case where we need good government, not market forces,
designing the infrastructure.

regards,
    EL

------------
Eleanor Ashley Lister
South Sydney Greens
http://ssg.nsw.greens.org.au
webmistress at ssg.nsw.greens.org.au