Industry, business & Government drive digital economy future

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, met with industry and business leaders on the 10th of September to discuss and plan the vision for Australia's future in the global digital economy.

As members of the CRLLEN will know, we have worked closely with both the previous Federal Government and we hope now with the new Federal Government to advocate for the importance of coordinated and synchronised activity to support improved telelcommunications infrastructure across the Macedon, Mitchell and Murrindindi Shires to enhance employment, training and service provision opportunities for young people, local businesses and the broader communities.

Senator Conroy said:

"We need to position now for Australia to realise the full benefits from the Governments infrastructure and other digital economy investments, and realise our ambition to become one of the worlds leading digital economies," Senator Conroy said.

"Like industrialisation, the digital economy is providing benefits across society. We know that the digital economy must underpin Australia's future economic progress."

"Today a consensus emerged on the need to collaborate to develop a road map for the future of the digital economy in Australia."

Senator Conroy chaired the Digital Economy Forum in Melbourne, where he announced a Future Directions Paper to be produced in collaboration with industry, business and other stakeholders. The paper will be published early next year.

[Source: DBCDE.gov.au ]

These stylised facts describe the main drivers of growth, decline and migration. The stylised facts have been determined from analysis of all of Australia’s regions and were originally developed as part of the State of the Regions series of reports, produced for the Australian Local Government Association by our data partner, the The National Institute of Economic and Industry Research (NIEIR) .

They provide an important insight into what young people need to ensure a sustainable future.

One key stylised fact about the strong correlation between access to telecommunications bandwidth and dispoasable income is critical for regional planners and all levels of government to undertsand.

Related Links

• Dept Broadband, Communications & Digital Economy
• C.O.I.Ns - Communities of Integrated Networks
• Our Communities - Our Stories - Envi Scan 2008-2011
• State of the Regions Report -ALGA

Victoria set for $35m broadband boost

According to MIS Australia -

The Victorian government will pump $35 million into upgrading high-speed internet services to rapidly growing regions of the state that are in danger of falling behind in the broadband stakes as their populations grow.

Australian Broadband Guarantee Extended

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy, Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy, announced [on the 13th of May] an extension of the Australian Broadband Guarantee program to safeguard the broadband opportunities for all Australians, while the Government continues to implement its broader broadband policy agenda.

The Australian Broadband Guarantee program will receive additional funding in the 2008–09 Budget which will bring the total program funding up to $270.7 million over four years.

“The Australian Broadband Guarantee has played an important role in ensuring high-quality, equitable broadband access for the more remote areas of Australia,” Senator Conroy said.

The extension of this program for a further four years will provide a safety net for Australians, particularly those in rural and regional Australia, who currently cannot access metro-comparable broadband services, while the Government implements longer term solutions to improve access to broadband services available for all Australians.

“The Australian Government is committed to providing Australians with access to high quality broadband services, no matter where they live or work,” Senator Conroy said.

“A key plank of the Government’s strategy is the Government’s commitment to establish a National Broadband Network (NBN) to provide high-speed broadband services to 98 per cent of premises and businesses.”

For further details, please point your web browser to:

Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

Regional doctors to operate in virtual world....

Regional doctors to operate in virtual world with specialists. North-west Victoria's major hospitals will install new high-tech equipment that will allow local doctors immediate access to Melbourne-based trauma specialists.

[Source: ABC Central Victoria]

Digital Education Revolution

The Australian Government is committing new funding of $1 billion over four years to provide:

• through the National Secondary School Computer Fund, grants of up to $1 million for schools to assist them to provide for new or upgraded information and communications technology (ICT) for secondary students in Years 9 – 12; and

• a contribution of up to $100 million for the provision of high-speed fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) broadband connections to Australian schools.

Broadband Fibre to Schools

The Australian Government has allocated $100 million to contribute to the provision of fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) broadband connections to Australian schools to deliver internet download speeds of up to 100 megabits per second.

A detailed plan for the delivery of fibre connections to Australian schools will be developed by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations in consultation with the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE) and its National Broadband Network (NBN) program. The Government is committed to providing $4.7 billion towards the roll out of the NBN.

An inter-departmental committee will facilitate coordination of the broadband fibre to schools initiative at the Australian Government level and formal consultation mechanisms will be established to ensure state and territory school jurisdictions, independent and Catholic school systems and other stakeholders are engaged in the implementation of this initiative.

Implementation of the broadband fibre to schools will be closely coordinated with the rollout of the NBN by the DBCDE.

At this stage it is not possible to be precise about timeframes for the roll out of this initiative. The NBN roll out will lead to the wide spread deployment of optical fibre in Australian cities, regional centres and towns. Provision of fibre connections to schools will, in many cases, be dependent on the roll out of the NBN.

Information on the timeframe for the roll out of the NBN will be provided by the DBCDE. The first stage will involve the establishment of an independent expert panel to manage the process of inviting proposals to build the network.

Related Links

• Community of Integrated Networks - C.O.I.N.s

• Federal Government - Digital Education Revolution

Telstra Loses High Court Battle

The High Court of Australia has ruled against Telstra in its challenge against the Trade Practices Act and the ability for the ACCC to set access prices for its network.

Telstra launched the case in January last year, and was attempting use section 51 (xxxi) of the Australian Constitution, which it says "guarantees just compensation when property is compulsorily acquired". Telstra believed that it was being forced to sell access to its line sharing product (LSS) below its costs.

But all seven High Court Judges disagreed with the fundamentals of Telstra's case, stating that Telstra was privatised after the 1991 Telecommunications Act was put into place. The Act was specifically designed to ensure competitors could gain access to Telstra's network.

"It was not (and could not be) suggested that vesting those assets (and the associated liability to pay for the assets) in Telstra was other than a transfer of the assets to be held and used in accordance with and subject to the then regulatory regime contained in the 1991 Telecommunications Act", said the ruling.

Telstra group general counsel Will Irving said the decision was disappointing. "Our competitors now have little reason to invest in their own networks, knowing instead they can simply resell Telstra services. The can now 'buy' rather than 'build' - a perverse outcome, by any measure," he said.

iiNet's Steve Dalby disagreed, saying "the reality contradicts Telstra's comments". "The industry has been investing millions for years", he told Whirlpool. "This judgement provides the certainty for further investment."

Telstra has been ordered to pay the costs of the case.

[ Source: Whirlpool]

Related Links:

• High Court Judgement [ Australasian Legal Information Institute ]
• Telstra response (Telstra, 6 Mar 2008)
• Whirlpool

Australian Broadband Survey - Value Drops for Users.....

Whirlpool has completed its 2007 Australian Broadband Surevy. Among many questions asked was:

In the last twelve months, has broadband value changed?

For the first time since they began asking this question in 2005, people on average think broadband value has gotten worse.

There were a number of ISPs that increased prices throughout the year, which would have contributed to this result. There is also a new trend of counting uploads on broadband plans, which can significantly reduce value for money.

The full report can be found here:

http://whirlpool.net.au/survey/2007/

Telstra ADSL2+ at 900 more exchanges

According to Whirlpool:

Telstra will enable ADSL2+ at 900 further telephone exchanges, in a surprise announcement.

Telstra says the move is possible after assurances from the Federal Government that Telstra would not be forced to open its ADSL2+ service to competitors.

"The Government's decision means that more than a million extra Australian families, businesses, non-profit organisations and government agencies will soon be able to enjoy the benefits of high-speed broadband in education, productivity improvements, entertainment and health-care", said Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo.

Up until now, Telstra had only enabled ADSL2+ at an exchange if there was at least one other provider with ADSL2+ equipment located there. According to Telstra, "the Government made clear that it does not consider there is a compelling case to regulate these services at this point and that, if there were an attempt to regulate them in future, the existence of other competing broadband platforms would be highly relevant."

Responding publicly to the announcement, Internode managing director Simon Hackett said that the Government's position "conflicts with a decade of competition policy and practice."

"You can rest assured that we have already sent queries and requests for information about this and its implications to both Telstra and the ACCC this morning and we will look forward to the responses with interest", he said.

Telstra says that 370 exchanges will be enabled immediately, with 132 following within 3 weeks, and another 405 within 200 days.

But people may be turned off the thought of ADSL2+ once they see the prices. Unlike its competitors, Telstra uses a tiered pricing model based on speed, where a user pays significantly more for ADSL2+ than they do for low speeds. BigPond's cheapest unbundled ADSL2+ plan is $69.95 for only 600MB, with $150/GB excess fees and counted uploads.

[Source: Whirlpool]

Shift Happens

S H I F T - H A P P E N S

S h i f t - H a p p e n s

www.centralrangesllen.org.au/shifthappens