Government advocates widespread use of broadband
Government advocates widespread use of broadband
The Federal Government has indicated its desire for increased use of broadband Internet access across all levels of the community.
A new report to the Commonwealth Government has pushed the need for greater utilisation of broadband services, with the twin aims of community enrichment and economic efficiency. Launched on the January 22, the report, entitled Australia's Broadband Connectivity has drawn comparisons between information technology (IT) and the Industrial Revolution, saying that broadband technologies were destined to become the "roads and railways of the 21st century." Senator Richard Alston, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, said the government recognised the importance of its role in promoting broadband.
The report has advised the government to initiate a formal strategy and subsequent group to oversee it. The Broadband Advisory Group, or BAG, would cooperate with both the government and industry stakeholders, to develop a cohesive framework through which widespread use of broadband could be implemented. The submission suggests that individual broadband infrastructure elements could be combined to form a national broadband network, thereby providing key sectors including health, education and research with "always on" Internet.
Communities which have previously been glossed over by the industry, namely those in rural and regional areas, can expect heightened interest from Government at all levels. The report claims that the federal government should be keen to foster industry interest for rural areas, stating that increased broadband connectivity had the capability to enrich community life in areas that are "underserved by the private sector." The report claims the government is committed to promoting technologically neutral competition to such areas.
Those two much-maligned issues of community services, education and health, both figure largely in the Broadband Advisory Group's report. Again, the proposal is to meld the roles of federal, state and territory governments, and industry stakeholders, in order to streamline the efficiency of both systems. It is anticipated that health will grow through the use of eHealth initiatives, including electronic patient health records.
Education will apparently benefit from an inter-communal, nationwide intranet. The report recommends that all schools and educational institutions should be connected to this system, to facilitate interactive learning, as well what it describes as the development of "innovative and varied curriculum content." Whether such a service would be provided primarily by the government or industry stakeholders is not specified.
Australia's embracing of the new technology has broad economic implications. Assuming that broadband is adopted as readily as the telephone, consulting firm Accenture estimates that the next generation of broadband could net the national economy between $12 billion to $30 billion per year. Accelerated ecomomic value could occur within a matter of years, rather than decades, should the government actively promote the adoption of the new technology.
Australia's enthusiasm for earlier generations of communication technology bodes well for the widespread public acceptance of broadband. Faxes, mobile phones and the Internet are all relatively commonplace now, both at home and in the workplace. Up until this point, most developed nations have been slow to take on broadband, with Australia being no exception. Australia ranks 18th in broadband penetration, out of 30 countries surveyed by OECD in 2001.
Its ability to facilitate videoconferencing and large data-set transmissions are certainly a lure for government and non-government organisations alike who have distributed components.
A study by Allen consulting in September 2002 showed that a broadband-enabled SME could expect to earn double the revenue per employee, compared with those still using narrowband connection.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) contributed a set of statistics to the Broadband Advisory Group's report, and they read very favourably for broadband's case. Increase in broadband take-up in Australia between July 31 2001 and 30 September 2002 was 162 per cent. Over that same period, the number of customers increased by 333 per cent (now 71 500) and the number of residential customers increased by 97 per cent (now 204 900). Significantly, there was a 23 per cent increase in take-up in the June to September 2002 quarter.
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