Our choice of technology is technology neutral

Stuart Corner
Saturday, 23 June 2007 11:12

Opinion and Analysis

Well mobile WiMAX could provide mobile coverage, but if Opel is planning to use that, they have not said, and if that were the case, you could be sure Coonan would be shouting this from the rooftops.

Now to the expert panel set up to evaluate, at a minimum, the G9 and Telstra FTTN proposals. If Coonan were true to her technology neutrality promise the panel would be specifically instructed to be open to al technology proposals. And since we all know that there are two FTTN proposals in advanced stages of development (one totally complete and ready to, Telstra assures us) it would be only fair to allow sufficient time for any party to develop an alternative proposal: rushing to a decision before the election amounts to picking a winner in FTTN.

But if you go way back, the government is not even picking technology winners: it has allowed itself to be railroaded into a particular technology path ever since Telstra came up with its initial FTTN proposal in August 2005.

By having a rural and regional broadband infrastructure buildout with $1 billion of Government funding quite separate from a competing bid for a fibre network, technology neutrality has already been compromised. Because what we really need is the best total solution.

Unfortunately this obsession with FTTN has also infected the ALP. Rather than come out with a technology neutral vision it too specifies FTTN: "A Fibre To The Node broadband network with a minimum 12 megabits per second to 98 per cent of population."

We really need to go back to the drawing board and start again from scratch. Remember what the minister promised: "...allowing the industry to put forward the best mix of technologies to meet the varying needs across Australia's vast land mass."

Only by doing this without pre-conditions could the government truly claim to be technology neutral and only by so doing would be likely to get the optimal solution.