[LINK] Demand 'still not there' for 1Gbps: NBN Co

[JanW]

At 11:55 AM 13/02/2017, David Lochrin wrote:
>Given that we're dealing with broadband Back o' Bourke and not greater Sydney, the cost of providing 10 Mbit/sec in remote areas is likely to be orders of magnitude less than 1 Gbit/sec.  While I'm no fan of the current Government's approach, all governments have to make package decisions - what is worth doing within the country's economic constraints.
>
>So I suggest arguments about baandwidth in remote areas need to be properly thought through in terms of utility and cost/benefit if they're to get a hearing where it counts.

I don't disagree with any of that. We are an odd duck country, given the expanses of nothingness/sparseness of population. The Australian way, although probably always fought against by the 'haves' in the cities, was to try its best to subsidise through sharing to make sure those who chose to live in those sparse areas and provide FOOD to those living in the cities were shown they are valued as equal citizens. However now the equity issues are moving into extremes that challenge that provision of equity. One could say the same thing for health and education provision. There just isn't equity in either of those things for bush families in the immediacy we get in cities. So we have a lot of volunteer stuff happening, like Angel Flight (if you don't know about this, check it out - these people truly are human angels).

But I thought the overall 1Gb discussion wasn't about bush provision. So when that is taken out of the equation, the decision points change - drastically. And like so many other technologies, we can't discount that in the future even bushies will be able to get similar service through some technological development. So why not put it in place in the 'easy' places now so that the applications and spur to do the R&D happens?

We'll always hit up against physics and physical spaces. But it doesn't mean where those physical limits don't exist that the models can't be built to extend services to those in harder to serve areas through a minimum level of USO, even if that's not 1Gb (now).

Oh, one more thing. I think you're right, David Lochrin - the focus on the technology muddies things - a lot. But when you see the stupid stupid stupid promises from NBN to provide space engineering programs and NOT differentiating who will be able to access such programs, it gets a bit harder to trust them on anything much about content delivery. They gotta stop that.

I'm liking this debate, btw.

Jan



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