[LINK] It's on: NBN vs. wireless ( was Rod Tucker on ABC Radio National now Friday 18th 6:15pm)

[George Bray]

posted to their comments page
George



Thanks for an excellent interview.

Even though Peter wanted the discussion to feed on the polarity of the
"which is better" argument, both David and Rod were explaining that
just as now, our broadband requirements will encompass mobile and
fixed devices for all sorts of applications.

It's great that we can have super-fast broadband at
home/office/school, and we can extend that by LOCAL wireless services.

The discussion switched between different interpretations of local and
public "wireless", and I think there was some confusion there.  You
talked about 4G and wifi, but there are other (fixed and mobile)
technologies that can make up how the backbone NBN is distributed.

It's great that the Austar long-range frequencies are being used for
the rural areas of the NBN, and certainly 4G and the CSIRO Ngara will
play a part too in some scenarios.

The concluding idea is that we will need to optimise the limited
wireless spectrum by enabling our mobile devices to  obtain very large
"things" from a "home base" on a highly capable fibre cable network.

The major leap this program has made, however, is to say WHY wireless
services are not only complementary to, but also part of the NBN plan.
And no matter what wireless technology is used, the same limitations
come into effect - congestion, distance vs speed, weather. Having a
fibre backbone that does not have these limitations is a good
infrastructure for our country.