[LINK] Benefits of a digital economy enabled by the National Broadband Network

[Richard Chirgwin]

  On 18/09/10 5:14 PM, Marghanita da Cruz wrote:
> Richard Chirgwin wrote:
> <snip>
>> One thing that mystifies me is that nobody has tried to quantify the 
>> potential value of the NBN to non-Internet wholesale markets, of 
>> which there are many. But there's no longer any point trying to 
>> inject sanity into the debate: it's so debased by both sides of 
>> politics that any statement, even if it's boringly factual, is 
>> denounced as being a political marker. It's as if your opinion on the 
>> existence of gravity were somehow related to your political alignment.
>>
>> <snip>
>
> Another benefit is the opportunity to create a National
> Electricity Distribution Network  in parallel with the
> NBN. A National  Electricity grid, will allow for small
> scale Wind and Solar input to the grid.
>
> And a couple of questions about the proposed NBN:
>
> If cables are going to criss cross the country are
> they better above or below ground?
Below is preferable if possible; that's not a problem if Telstra is 
going to let NBN Co have duct access.
>
> Satellite has been mentioned as part of the NBN,
> though should the latency make it unacceptable for
> interactive Internet access?
Indeed; but there will remain a few places too remote for fibre access. 
Satellite is the access technology of last resort in this context.

RC
>
>> Satellite Internet access
>>     This article is missing information about concepts and recent 
>> technological developments. This concern has been noted on the talk 
>> page where it may be discussed whether or not to include such 
>> information. (March 2008)
>> Question book-new.svg
>>     This article needs additional citations for verification.
>> Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. 
>> Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008)
>>     This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality 
>> standards. Please improve this article if you can. (May 2010)
>> Satellite Internet access is Internet access provided through 
>> satellites. The service can be provided to users world-wide through 
>> Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. Geostationary satellites can offer 
>> higher data speeds, but their signals can not reach some polar 
>> regions of the world. Different types of satellite systems have a 
>> wide range of different features and technical limitations, which can 
>> greatly affect their usefulness and performance in specific 
>> applications.
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_Internet_access>
>
> Marghanita