Australia's broadband: how big is the problem?

• Jock Given
• Media International Australia

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15 July 2008Jock Given from the Institute for Social Research at Swinburne University draws four conclusions from the most recent data about broadband takeup
in Australia and overseas.

First, performance shouldn’t be judged against a single
criterion or against the same criteria over time. Second, on the simplest measure
of fixed broadband takeup, Australia has caught up considerably after a slow start
to a position now above the OECD average, but is still well behind top-ranked
countries. Third, on other factors such as the availability of higher speeds, prices,
bitcaps and the relationships between them, Australia does not perform as well,
particularly on bitcaps. Fourth, even if Australia’s performance has improved on
some measures, few suggest existing infrastructure will be adequate to maintain
that improvement in the years ahead on the measures that will matter.