In an Election ’07 debate held last week on the Sky channel, both major Political Parties went head to head over Australia’s Telecommunication issues, namely Broadband. Labor Communication’s spokesman ‘Stephen Conroy’ accused Coalition Communication’s Minister ‘Helen Coonan’ of not only lying, but rewriting the laws of physics.

Although there are no official regulations and reports that support or condem these figures, it appears that most WiMax enthusiasts tend to agree that Coonan’s WiMax Speeds figures fall way short of actual speeds attainable, unless we’re living in a ‘perfect world’.

“There are so many things that are technically wrong with what Helen has just said. Internode is not suggesting that it can get 12Mbps at 25km. That is just a lie. Internode can’t get 12Mbps to 20km. The Minister continues to rewrite the laws of physics,” he said.

“If she was a business, Graham Samuel [head of the ACCC] would fine her for false and misleading advertising. He requires Internode, he requires every wireless provider to use the words ‘up to’ 12Mbps,” continued Conroy

Unfortunately for Coonan, and for rural Australians, we’re still far from a perfect world.

Read the entire article at ZDNet.com.au

Speculation over the potentiality of Broadband Over Powerlines (BPL) to be used as a mainstream Technology for  Broadband Internet Access continues to mount with both Labor and the Coalition monitoring BPL developments. Interference issues appears to be the major hurdle facing BPL as some recent trials in NSW and TAS have suggested.

Broadband is a highly contested issue being debated during the lead up to the Federal Election this weekend and will no doubt witness both parties emphasizing their Broadband blueprints for Australia. BPL could be a very viable Broadband alternative for either party as the majority of infrastructure is already in place thus making a network using BPL Technology cost effective and almost ready to immediately implement.

Communications Minister Helen Coonan told ZDNet Australia that her office is monitoring developments around new broadband technologies including BPL. My department has kept an eye on it,” she said. “[Trials of the technology] suggested it could be a way of delivering broadband effectively into the home.” “It’s very interesting. My department has a standing brief to be kept abreast of all developments,” she added.

Labor communications spokesperson Stephen Conroy told ZDNet Australia that he has seen broadband over powerline technology used in Tasmania. “We’ve got some good working models,” he added.

Read the entire ’Labor, Coalition looking at powerline broadband’ article at BuilderAU.com.au

Broadband for Australia’s future has become a key election issue with discussion and debate figuring highly in the lead up to the Polls. As many of us already know, a high tech Broadband nationwide network is crucial for Australia’s future prosperity and growth, not only nationally, moreover on a global scale. Opposition leader Kevin Rudd appears to be on the mark, to a certain extent, with his understanding of the importance of Broadband for Australians, and the dire need for a high tech Broadband Network. While John Howard seems to be lacking vision and is way off the mark when suggesting that Australia’s current Broadband network is adequate and that 12Mbps speeds in the future will be fast enough for all Australians. Well I beg to differ and so do many other Industry experts, media reporters and professionals.

Australia’s ICT practitioners have the opportunity to really shape the future of the world – to be not just competitors, but leaders. We have an advantage in innovation and have always punched well above our weight in this area. If we lead the world in penetration of symmetric hyperspeed broadband, it stands to reason that our innovations will lead the world in ways and means of using that kind of infrastructure. So investment in processes, technologies, and content for that kind of infrastructure must place Australia at the forefront and give us our best chance of being a supplier of innovation to the world instead of being a net importer. It is critical that, regardless of who wins the next election, Australia’s broadband infrastructure is capable of meeting our needs for at least the next three to five decades,

By future standards, 12Mbps will be a walking track rather than the six-lane highway we need it to be.

Read the entire ‘Opportunity to be world players’ at AustralianIT.com.au

As the forthcoming Federal Election gears up a notch, Prime Minister John Howard says Aussie Broadband Speeds are OK, Labor talks $8billion dollars for new joint Network, and reports show Australia is lagging behind leader Japan with speeds 35 times slower. Howard says Broadband Internet speeds will be improved over the next couple of years, but it might be a case of too little too late. A recent report also suggests that we’re paying 9 times as much for our Broadband services compared to other countries. While the Libs appear to have dropped the ‘ball’ on Broadband, Labor commits to plans for developing a Broadband Network in conjunction with the Private sector which will pave the way for Broadband speeds 40 times faster than whats currently available.

Opposition communications and information technology spokesman Stephen Conroy says Labor wants to use the $2 billion Communications Fund to build partnerships with the private sector and roll out an $8 billion national broadband network.

Prime Minister John Howard has defended Australia’s broadband speeds.

“We are laying out speeds of 12 megabits per second for 99 per cent of the community,” he said.

Read the entire article at ABC.net