Monday, July 7, 2008

So, just how fast does Broadband need to be to be fast enough?

Submissions received by the current Govt regarding regulatory issues to do with our National Broadband Network were released for public consumption last week.

See the attached link:

LINK

Personally I feel like I've been watching paint dry this is all taking so long!

So what does it all mean? Here's the ABC Digital reporters 2 cents, which if on the money I find a bit concerning!:

The value of high-speed networks

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Stephen Conroy, this week released the submissions made to his department on National Broadband Network regulatory issues and, as Alan Kohler points out at Business Spectator, every submission calls for the proposed fibre to the node network (FTTN) to be built and owned by a specialist network provider and not an integrated telco. In other words, not Telstra, at least in its present form.

BTW: I do find it odd that Kohler seemed to be suggesting that no one really needs speeds of more than 12 megabits per second (Mbps). I know it’s not about speed, but it is about capacity. In the UK a recent report to government made the point that economic benefits would accrue as faster networks - of say 100 Mbps - would allow more people to work from home and allow businesses to be more distributed.

The report said that a nation wired for high-speed broadband would also benefit socially. Lifelong learning programmes would be easier to support, flexible working would be more viable and social exclusion could be diminished.

Meanwhile, Stilgherrian has been looking at the final report of Australia 2020 Summit, and concludes that Australia’s “best and brightest” and “clueless” about the internet.

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