Coalition unveil their broadband and internet policy

[kalekale]

I'm actually REALLY interested to know what Australia can achieve better than it can right now if the only thing that were to change was the internet speed. Seriously, please let me know.

Its setting Australia up for future tech, UHD streaming, Holographic video, online universities, we cant just be happy with the minimum its like the comparison with if people were happy with horses why bother with cars.. Its going to take a few years to roll out and then has the staying power for a long time, 5-10 years maybe more. We didnt need our current speeds 15 years ago.

 

[CSP]

Its setting Australia up for future tech, UHD streaming, Holographic video, online universities, we cant just be happy with the minimum its like the comparison with if people were happy with horses why bother with cars.. Its going to take a few years to roll out and then has the staying power for a long time, 5-10 years maybe more. We didnt need our current speeds 15 years ago.

Nothing like an argument that contradicts itself. Broadband speed has nothing to do with preparing for future technology. It's simply a catalyst that at any point in time has to keep up with the demands being placed on it. The demands on the current infrastructure are more than it can cope with but that's due to outdated technology such as slower rims and copper backhaul but that is currently being upgraded. As I mentioned, that takes time. To use your analogy, people didn't one day stop using horses and suddenly start driving around in cars that were created overnight on roads that took decades to develop. It took time and was a gradual upgrade. Not only that, when people did move to cars they didn't spend a fortune on a car in 1950, wait 8 years for it to be built and then take delivery of a car that was 8 years behind current technology when it was finally delivered. Technology and infrastructure should be progressive in the same way, fast enough to keep pace with demand but gradual enough that it can change with developing advancements.

If we didn't need our current speeds years ago, why do we NEED them now? Yeah, super fast internet is nice to have (I know, I have it) but it's far from a necessity. It's more about what makes our lives easier, more convenient and to some extent more enjoyable. But I would never call it a NEED.

The NBN is AT BEST 8 years from completion but more realistically 10 - 15 years away. NOBODY can predict what is going to happen in that time frame. One thing is for certain though and that is that technology we haven't even dreamed of will be invented. Ethernet over Power will become much more mainstream and stable and then everything will just come into your house over your existing power lines (with new, not yet developed equipment at each end).

The NBN would be good if it could 100% be implemented NOW and finished within a year. It's the best of what network infrastructure is available for us NOW and not going to be the best once it's finished being rolled out. In fact by then it will be outdated. Which is why the amount of money being spent is a ridiculous waste. Spends less, upgrade in stages and continually adjust for technological advances - that's the way it needs to be done. More regulation is needed over how Telstra manages and upgrades the infrastructure though but that's a lot easier and cheaper to mange than rolling out an entire network that will be antiquated by the time it's finished.

 

[sleepa]

Nothing like an argument that contradicts itself. Broadband speed has nothing to do with preparing for future technology. It's simply a catalyst that at any point in time has to keep up with the demands being placed on it. The demands on the current infrastructure are more than it can cope with but that's due to outdated technology such as slower rims and copper backhaul but that is currently being upgraded. As I mentioned, that takes time.

The NBN is AT BEST 8 years from completion but more realistically 10 - 15 years away. NOBODY can predict what is going to happen in that time frame. One thing is for certain though and that is that technology we haven't even dreamed of will be invented. Ethernet over Power will become much more mainstream and stable.

The NBN would be good if it could 100% be implemented NOW and finished within a year. It's the best of what network infrastructure is available for us NOW and not going to be the best once it's finished being rolled out. In fact by then it will be outdated. Which is why the amount of money being spent is a ridiculous waste. Spends less, upgrade in stages and continually adjust for technological advances - that's the way it needs to be done. More regulation is needed over how Telstra manages and upgrades the infrastructure though but that's a lot easier and cheaper to mange than rolling out an entire network that will be antiquated by the time it's finished.

I actually agree with that. So Japan has 100mbs now, and in 15 years time we will have 100mbs, but the japanese could have 500mbs or something, hence we will still be playing catch up.

Upgrading in stages is really the only way that a big country like Australia can keep up. Since everyone reckons we're being left behind.

BTW, Have you seen the size of japan? No wonder they can have heaps of new infrastructure built. Not to mention probably most of that is in cities.

 

[Full Spectrum]

Places like youtube demand high speed. now especially with HD quality videos. and we push everyday for higher technology. faster cars, the latest and biggest tv's, the latest i-phone- smart phones. and all of a sudden we say "we don't need speed". it goes against the way we have moved over the past 10 years.

If you could deliver 12mbps minimum across the board (including wireless) that's a good start.

Both ignore the inner and surrounding city people who are unable to get cable or adsl, so rely on poor deal/speeds wireless access.

 

[CSP]

BTW, Have you seen the size of japan? No wonder they can have heaps of new infrastructure built. Not to mention probably most of that is in cities.

Size is a massively important factor for Australia. We are the largest "western advanced" country in the world with a minuscule population when compared with the distances involved in all our infrastructure.

 

[minux]

Anyone watch the ICT debate?

The NBN is setting us up for the future. Whats the maximum speed for the Libs plan? even they avoided that question. Fibre optics has the ability of 10 Gbps, imagine what our country could achieve with those type of speeds? Japan has had 100 Mbps for the last 5 years

What would it achieve? Do fast internet speeds all of a sudden boost productivity and make people smarter?

 

[50LTRv8]

I'd prefer to download more than download faster. Whats the point of a 100 Mbps connection if a lot of servers and most international servers won't be able to provide us with data at that speed. Whats the point of a 100 Mbps connection if you can only download a smaller amount of data? Why should every taxpayer pay for an internet service that only some people would make full use of?

Why should I pay for roads I don't use? it is the same argument

 

[50LTRv8]

What would it achieve? Do fast internet speeds all of a sudden boost productivity and make people smarter?

The biggest part of the NBN that works is one company taking care of the cabling and taking that away from Telstra who don't give too hoots about anybody. As for the question why go that fast, why do you have a WRX, surely a excel would be cheaper to buy and to get around in, you don't really need the speed of that WRX do you?

Downloads will only get bigger, since when has the human race been satisfied with the speed of ANYTHING.

 

[50LTRv8]

I actually agree with that. So Japan has 100mbs now, and in 15 years time we will have 100mbs, but the japanese could have 500mbs or something, hence we will still be playing catch up.

Upgrading in stages is really the only way that a big country like Australia can keep up. Since everyone reckons we're being left behind.

BTW, Have you seen the size of japan? No wonder they can have heaps of new infrastructure built. Not to mention probably most of that is in cities.

But if we had a fiber network, the speed would be 100MBS, and then when you wanted to upgrade speeds later all you need to do is upgrade the sending / receiving technology at either end, it is not like the cable would need to be replaced every 10 - 15 years.

 

[Full Spectrum]

The biggest part of the NBN that works is one company taking care of the cabling and taking that away from Telstra who don't give too hoots about anybody. As for the question why go that fast, why do you have a WRX, surely a excel would be cheaper to buy and to get around in, you don't really need the speed of that WRX do you?

Downloads will only get bigger, since when has the human race been satisfied with the speed of ANYTHING.

Moving to blu-ray has bumped the download size of movies. I don't know about you. but i wouldn't want to sit around all week waiting for 12gb+ blu-ray movies. even the simple tv series of 20 plus episodes is huge. then our tv stations offer the chance to stream episodes we miss from their websites. i dont know about anyone else. but my almost 5mbps struggles.