[LINK] Pirate Party Telecommunications Policy

[David Boxall]

Hi all,

I've raised the issue of the Pirate Party's lack of a telecommunications 
policy. 
<https://discuss.pirateparty.org.au/t/telecommunications-policy/770/5> 
Some of the assertions I'm getting in response strike me as a little 
weird. Particularly as they come from someone who says he has relevant 
experience.

> ... homes that are still too remote for a copper cable are definitely 
> going to be too remote for a fibre connection, as a copper cable can 
> be strung up on poles but you have to trench fibre and in the arid 
> area of Australia there are plants whose roots steal water from other 
> plants roots by slicing into them and they do the same thing to any 
> underground cables they come across so they have to have extra 
> reinforcement.
Isn't the fibre component of HFC normally overhead? I know that's the 
case for TransACT.

> Any services provided by Fibre, including audio and video is purely IP 
> based and will only work over the internet connection 
I thought NBN FttP made provision for both video and audio, outside the 
Internet. Am I misreading 
<http://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco2/documents/nbn-industry-briefing-fibre-tv-and-rf-light-path.pdf>? 
Links to substantial information on non-Internet audio and video over 
fibre would help no end.

> Now that the analogue TV has been turned off part of that spectrum is 
> now being used for Digital Radio and Digital TV but this had no effect 
> on any types of internet or mobile coverage
Don't both Telstra and Optus use some of that old TV spectrum for mobile 
telephony?

Any help, references, etc. would be greatly appreciated. It's hard for 
one of limited knowledge to detect all the BS, let alone counter it. ;)

If you want to join in, I think they allow non-members to comment.

-- 
David Boxall                    |  Dogs look up to us
                                 |  And cats look down on us
http://david.boxall.id.au       |  But pigs treat us as equals
                                                    --Winston Churchill