[LINK] Tech startups release manifesto for policy change after government's Policy Hack

[Paul Brooks]

On 14/11/2015 9:00 AM, Tom Worthington wrote:
> The Australian proposal to do this through the NBN is a bit dated. In the education
> community we have moved from thinking about classroom education, through computer
> education and now on to mobile education involving a social component. The NBN is no
> use for this, as it is a fixed, not mobile, infrastructure. 
Tom - I find this extremely limited and woolly thinking. The only truly 'mobile'
infrastructure that doesn't rely on a fixed network foundation is a satellite network
- and I do not imagine for a minute you are suggesting all the education community is
thinking of distance education by satellite!

All 'mobile' infrastructure has a foundation of fixed infrastructure. On cellular
mobile networks the path between handset and content is only 'mobile' for the last
kilometre or two - the vast majority of the path is on fixed - usually fibre-optic-
infrastructure. WiFi networks even more so. Enhancements in radio technology to
achieve faster speeds and lower latency all revolve around *shortening* the final
radio link that enables mobile terminals to be mobile - 'mobile infrastructure' is
evolving to incorporate more and more fixed infrastructure, not less.

I rather think you must be confusing mobile infrastructure with mobile terminals for
user interaction. I can well understand how the education community might be embracing
the use of movable, mobile devices to deliver educational outcomes, removing the need
for students to travel to a certain location or sit in a certain place. This is *not*
the same as requiring a mobile  infrastructure - the NBN fixed infrastructure forms a
fine backhaul network to enable ubiquitous WiFi and other radio technologies to
connect mobile devices to educational content and to each other.

Paul.