[LINK] Is the NBN Ready for Extreme Weather?

[Bernard Robertson-Dunn]

Should the first question not be "How do we communicate during extreme 
weather events?", not "how do we keep the NBN up and going during 
extreme weather events?"

TomW's statement "My suggestion would be that as a matter of policy, the 
combination of the NBN and mobile phone networks should be made as 
reliable as the old PSTN was. This should not be just for voice calls 
but for data as well." displays a very narrow technology perspective.

It is useful to consider what the problem really is. AFAICS, the demand 
is for a few channels, locally directed, dispersed evenly geographically 
over the whole continent as well as out to sea that can operate in a 
range of extreme conditions.

I'd like to see options for emergency communications, tailored to local 
conditions before anyone tries to harden a national 
business/entertainment communications infrastructure that is probably 
nowhere near suitable for emergency conditions.

But that means understanding the real problem, which is not something 
technologist are real good at.

-- 

Regards
brd

Bernard Robertson-Dunn
Sydney Australia
email: brd at iimetro.com.au
web:   www.drbrd.com
web:   www.problemsfirst.com