Coalition launches $6.25 billion alternative broadband plan
James Hutchinson (Computerworld)
Comment: A news report outlining the Coalition's $6.25 billion alternative broadband plan in August 2010. Relying heavily on wireless Internet access and construction of additional backhaul, the plan proposes providing 97 per cent Australians with a minimum peak speed of 12 Mbps.
READ THE FULL TEXT: Coalition launches $6.25 billion alternative broadband plan
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NBN 3.0 from the Alliance for Affordable Broadband: open letter
Alliance for Affordable Broadband
Comment: The Alliance for Affordable Broadband, an alliance of telecommunications companies, open letter proposing an alternative vision to the NBN that relies much more heavily on 4G wireless and infrastructure-based competition than the current NBN.
READ THE FULL TEXT: NBN 3.0 from the Alliance for Affordable Broadband: open letter
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Realising universal communications
Australian Communications Consumer Action Network
Comment: As a contribution to a much-needed debate on the characteristics and requirements of universal communications, this paper sets out some key consumer issues and questions in the current Australian policy moment.
READ THE FULL TEXT: Realising universal communications
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Universal communications in a broadband world
Raiche, Holly.
Comment: In this paper, Holly Raiche, Director of the Internet Society of Australia, explores universal service in the context of the NBN. To this end, she asks whether or not we still need a concept of universal service, how 'essential communications service' might be defined, whether it includes performance standards, who will provide it, who will fund it, and who can afford it.
READ THE FULL TEXT: Universal communications in a broadband world
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Response to the NBN Implementation Study, 31 May 2010
Australian Communications Consumer Action Network
Comment: This submission provides ACCAN's response to the weighty NBN Implementation Study. ACCAN is critical about the lack of attention given to consumer issues and it welcomes the recommendation that NBN Co develop a Charter on how NBN Co should meet the needs of consumers.
READ THE FULL TEXT: Response to the NBN Implementation Study, 31 May 2010
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Submission to National Broadband Network Companies and Access Arrangements Bills, 30 March 2010
Australian Communications Consumer Action Network
Comment: Supporters of the NBN Companies Bill and the Access Bill argue that the bills provide an opportunity to entrench consumer protections in Australia’s future broadband arrangements and that they establish key arrangements for the accountability of the NBN Co to government and the process for access seekers, but ACCAN believe the Bills could go much further to build public interest concerns into the NBN.
READ THE FULL TEXT: Submission to National Broadband Network Companies and Access Arrangements Bills, 30 March 2010
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A 2010 leadership imperative: the future built on broadband (report 1)
Broadband Commission
Comment: Published by the Broadband Commission, a group launched by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the report provides a detailed policy framework for broadband deployment and urges national leaders to replicate the mobile miracle with a broadband boom to provide shared high-speed resources accessible and beneficial to all.
READ THE FULL TEXT: A 2010 leadership imperative: the future built on broadband (report 1)
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A 2010 leadership imperative: the future built on broadband (report 2)
Broadband Commission
Comment: This paper by the Broadband Commission argues that there must be a trans-sectoral approach to broadband in which top-level political leadership and joint efforts by the private sector and by governments... [are] coordinated across all sectors of industry, administration and the economy. Developing isolated projects or piecemeal, duplicated networks, is not only inefficient—it also delays provision of infrastructure that is becoming as crucial in the modern world as roads or electricity supplies.
READ THE FULL TEXT: A 2010 leadership imperative: the future built on broadband (report 2)
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Submissions - NBN Co Legislation and Access Regime
Various authors
Comment: The collected submissions for the consultation on the National Broadband Network Company Legislation and Access Regime.
READ THE FULL TEXT: Submissions - NBN Co Legislation and Access Regime
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Submissions - NBN Co - Submissions on exposure drafts of legislation
Various authors
Comment: The collected submissions to the exposure drafts of the National Broadband Network Company Legislation and Access Regime.
READ THE FULL TEXT: Submissions - NBN Co - Submissions on exposure drafts of legislation
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Submissions to 'Regulatory Reform for 21st Century Broadband: discussion paper'
Various authors
Comment: The collected submissions to the consultation on the National Broadband Network: Regulatory Reform for 21st Century Broadband.
READ THE FULL TEXT: Submissions to 'Regulatory Reform for 21st Century Broadband: discussion paper'
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The economic effects of broadband: an Australian perspective
Research and Technology Branch, Australian Government Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts
Comment: In this 2007 paper, the Research and Technology Branch of the DCTIA assess the available evidence to give an Australian perspective on the economic effects of broadband. In doing so, [the authors] report upon the available Australian research into the benefits of broadband and other things with which broadband is associated, such as ICTs, e-commerce, supply chain management and tele-working.
READ THE FULL TEXT: The economic effects of broadband: an Australian perspective
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Open access to next generation broadband
Ross Kelso
Comment: This paper asks the question, What are the factors that prevent open access to the broadband services of next generation wireline infrastructure? How can these obstacles be overcome? Particular focus is given to non-price considerations which come to the fore due to unique strategic and technological characteristics of optical fibre in the access network.
READ THE FULL TEXT: Open access to next generation broadband
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Global - Fast broadband and trans-sector policies
BuddeComm
Comment: A report by commercial consultant BuddeComm examining broadband deployment which concludes that a linear continuation of the past will lead to more problems, and, eventually, utter chaos and destruction. To avoid this, the report recommends that government take the lead both in infrastructure and development of trans-sectoral policies for healthcare, education, smart grids, transport and public safety.
READ THE FULL TEXT: Global - Fast broadband and trans-sector policies
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Creating new markets: broadband adoption and economic benefits on the Yorke Peninsula
Australian Communications and Media Authority
Comment: An ACMA study into the impacts of broadband in the Yorke Peninsula region of South Australia that constitutes part of a growing body of evidence of the impacts of broadband and ICT more broadly on communities and services.
READ THE FULL TEXT: Creating new markets: broadband adoption and economic benefits on the Yorke Peninsula
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Network developments in support of innovation and user needs
Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy, OECD
Comment: A 2008 OECD report that makes a case for investment in a competitive, open-access national fibre-to-the-home network rollout based on potential spillovers in four key sectors of the economy: electricity, health, transportation and education.
READ THE FULL TEXT: Network developments in support of innovation and user needs
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The National Broadband Plan - United States
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Comment: The United States Government’s Federal Communication Commission’s national broadband plan argues that broadband is important to addressing exclusion in society and outlines a national strategy to bring broadband to everyone, including the poor, the elderly, some racial and ethnic minorities, those who live in rural areas and those with disabilities.
READ THE FULL TEXT: The National Broadband Plan - United States
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Broadband as a platform for economic, social and cultural development: lessons from Asia
infoDev and World Bank
Comment: This paper uses data from Asian countries that invested heavily in broadband to see if broadband can drive economic growth, and, if so, whether it creates does so by creating jobs, spurring innovation or reducing business costs. Finally, the paper examines whether broadband access can lead to social and cultural development or whether it can help with climate change, fuel prices and fuel security.
READ THE FULL TEXT: Broadband as a platform for economic, social and cultural development: lessons from Asia
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ITU: Government needs to lead the way
International Telecommunication Union
Comment: A short ITU paper arguing that government must spearhead broadband development in order to benefit from broadband. Included is a case study of South Korea, which invested heavily in broadband as a universal service and is now reaping the rewards.
READ THE FULL TEXT: ITU: Government needs to lead the way
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Digital Agenda for Europe
European Commission
Comment: The overall aim of the Digital Agenda is to deliver sustainable economic and social benefits from a digital single market based on fast and ultra fast internet and interoperable applications. As such, it consists of a comprehensive set of recommendations on how to maximise the social and economic potential of the internet.
READ THE FULL TEXT: Digital Agenda for Europe
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Broadband Commission for Digital Development Sharehouse
Broadband Commission for Digital Development
Created by the Broadband Commission, a group launched by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Sharehouse is a collection of case studies, best practice, analytical reports and policy recommendations.
READ THE FULL TEXT: Broadband Commission for Digital Development Sharehouse
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Liikenne- ja viestintäministeriö - Access to a minimum of 1 Mbit Internet connection available to everyone in Finland by July 2010
Ministry of Transport and Communications, Finland
Comment: A press release from the Finnish government stating that as of 1 July 2010, a 1 Mbps Internet connection will be defined as a universal service, meaning that universal service providers must be able to provide every permanent residence and business office with access to a reasonably priced and high-quality connection with a downstream rate of at least 1 Mbit/s.
READ THE FULL TEXT: Liikenne- ja viestintäministeriö - Access to a minimum of 1 Mbit Internet connection available to everyone in Finland by July 2010
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Spain govt to guarantee legal right to broadband
Reuters
Comment: A news article reporting that Spanish citizens will have a legal right from 2011 to be able to buy broadband internet of at least one megabyte per second at a regulated price wherever they live.
READ THE FULL TEXT: Spain govt to guarantee legal right to broadband
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The case for a national broadband policy
Robert D Atkinson
Comment: Atkinson, of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, argues for a national broadband strategy because (i) the fact that broadband enables consumers in ways other technologies do not, (ii) broadband has positive network externalities and (iii) the social returns of broadband outweigh the private returns, therefore market forces will not generate socially optimal levels of broadband.
READ THE FULL TEXT: The case for a national broadband policy
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Broadband growth and policies in OECD countries
Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy, OECD
Comment: This 2008 report examines broadband development to date and highlights policy challenges that remain. It also outlines emerging issues that may need future policy attention such as the digital divide and network neutrality.
READ THE FULL TEXT: Broadband growth and policies in OECD countries
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An international look at high-speed broadband
Darrell M. West
Comment: In this report, the author looks at (i) what broadband speeds are countries aiming for in their national plans, (ii) how are various nations paying for necessary broadband investments, (iii) what new applications become available, and (iv) how valuable is broadband for the economy, social connections, civic engagement, and public sector service delivery?
READ THE FULL TEXT: An international look at high-speed broadband
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Broadband openness rules are fully justified by economic research
Nicholas Economides
Comment: In this paper Professor Economides argues that that there is limited competition in the broadband access marketplace and that wireless broadband access services are unlikely to act as effective economic substitutes for wireline broadband access services. Finally, Economides argues that the last mile, concentrated market structure, combined with high switching costs, provides last mile broadband network providers with the ability to engage in practices that will reduce social welfare in the absence of open broadband rules.
READ THE FULL TEXT: Broadband openness rules are fully justified by economic research
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A national broadband plan for our future: a customer-centric framework
Gerald R. Faulhaber
Comment: This paper argues that a customer-centric plan, which puts the customer in control of decision-making, will yield the best broadband result for the U.S. The author concludes that the government must establish a market infrastructure that encourages competition, requires transparency of both network providers and application providers, and includes vigorous antitrust enforcement.
READ THE FULL TEXT: A national broadband plan for our future: a customer-centric framework
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Why should governments support broadband adoption? 2007
Jed Kolko, Public Policy Institute of California
Comment: This paper assesses two arguments for universal service: (i) overcoming the digital divide in broadband availability, and (ii) to facilitate online activities that are socially or economically desirable. The paper concludes that the former justification is the stronger of the two.
READ THE FULL TEXT: Why should governments support broadband adoption? 2007
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A conceptual model for the development of broadband and e-government
Peter Trkman and Tomaž Turk.
Comment: The paper discusses the interconnection of the adoption and diffusion of broadband (‘BB’), e-government (‘EG’) and e-commerce (‘EC’) services. It provides a structured literature review and proposes a conceptual framework for studying the interconnection of the development and adoption of BB, EG and EC.
READ THE FULL TEXT: A conceptual model for the development of broadband and e-government
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The broadband debate: a user's guide
Tim Wu
Comment: Professor Wu seeks to reconcile [the openist and the deregulationist arguments vis-a-vis broadband] and defend the network neutrality principle. Deregulationists and openists he contends, share a common faith in innovation as the basis of economic growth, and therefore both sides should give up their idealised market models and agree to network neutrality as a fundamental premise in the debate.
READ THE FULL TEXT: The broadband debate: a user's guide
