Australian broadband still lagging behind Asian neighbours

By Stuart Finlayson

The implementation of broadband in Australia is still miniscule in comparison to some of our Asian counterparts.

That is according to Bjarne Munch, infrastructure strategies analyst at META Group, who says the recently Australian federal government released National Broadband Strategy, described by the government as a vision for Australia to become a world leader, is just that – a high level vision lacking defined objectives, goals and commitments.

Munch believes one of the fundamental problems with the initiative is the funding – or lack of funding – allocated to it. While the figure of AUD$142.8 million seems a hefty sum on the face of it, it is dwarfed by the AUD$33.7 BILLION the Korean government has allocated to its Cyber Korea 21 initiative.

"Broadband adoption will grow in Australia during 2004, in spite of the government's lack of commitment. The Optus release of residential ADSL, followed by recent industry-wide reductions in low-end plans, will facilitate stronger growth during 2004. ADSL will overtake cable as the preferred consumer access by mid-2004, and by 2005, there will be more than 1 million ADSL subscribers. Although seemingly impressive, this number is significantly less than the current 70 percent broadband penetration in Korea, and without stronger government commitment, we do not believe Australia will even get close to matching Korea’s penetration within this decade."

Munch added that the lack of ubiquitous xDSL coverage, particularly business-grade, "will hamper the adoption of large-scale corporate usage through 2006.

"However, new consumer-oriented sub-AU$30 plans will push ADSL into the corporate market. IT organisations must identify suitable solution sets (e.g., dial-up replacement, teleworkers, small/home office). Clients with broadband contracts should consider continued price declines through 2006," he concluded.

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