[LINK] NBN widening digital divide in bush

[Marghanita da Cruz]

David Boxall wrote:
> On 13/07/2011 9:17 AM, Tom Worthington wrote:
>> Nikki Tugwell, of ABC News Online's Investigative Unit reports that the
>> NBN will widen the disparity between city and country Internet users
>> ("NBN disparity threatens to widen the gap", July 12, 2011 14:15:00):
>>
>> http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-12/nbn-disparity-threatens-to-widen-the-gap/2791840
>>
>> It is reported that those in remote areas, beyond the reach of fiber
>> optic cable and terrestrial wireless, will receive satellite broadband.
>> This will be limited to i Mbps upload speed.
>> ...
> The area I live in is not very remote. That doesn't guarantee good 
> communications. For a bit of history, see 
> <http://david.boxall.id.au/History.html>.
> 

There is remote and remote, It looks like the NBN will deliver you wireless
last miles....possibly, via optic fibre/microwave back to civilisation.
This should eliminate the latency issues with satellite. This should
eliminate your need for copper and satellite.

Whereas remote larger communities could end up with optic last mile and
satellite back to civilisation. See talk on OLPC about 35 minutes into the 
lightning talks.
<http://www.youtube.com/user/GoogleFOSSSydney#p/c/F6073A99A735F849/11/iuRX1LbG4uk>

Marghanita

> My Internet is satellite. I also have a copper land line. Apart from the 
> inherent limitations of copper, the main problem with the land line has 
> been lack of maintenance and necessary upgrades. Of course, Pair Gain 
> and RIMs have added their bit. See <http://david.boxall.id.au/Phone1.html>.
> 
> Apart from the inherent limitations of the technology, my satellite gear 
> is currently suffering from a well-known issue with water in the feed 
> horn. Of course, my ISP denies there's a problem. 
> <http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1391585>.
> ...
> 
>> This is not to say that the disparity of urban and remote NBN speeds
>> will not cause problems,...
> 
> Nor should the disparity be permanent. Where there is currently copper, 
> why should there not eventually be fibre? If our forebears could lay 
> copper, can't we lay fibre? Is it significantly more difficult? Are we 
> so much less capable than them?
> 
> OK, there probably will always be some disparity. The more remote the 
> location, the lower probably will be the achievable bandwidth. It is, 
> however, a movable feast. It isn't a case of what the current plan 
> delivers is all we'll ever get.
> 
> Fibre will and must replace copper. Not immediately, but little by 
> little over time. Wireless will precede fibre and satellite will precede 
> wireless. Eventually, something will succeed fibre, but that's far 
> enough in the future to make investing in fibre worthwhile.
> 
> What really disadvantages remote telecom's users is parsimonious 
> providers. Whether the provider be government or private enterprise 
> makes no difference.
> 


-- 
Marghanita da Cruz
http://ramin.com.au
Tel: 0414-869202