Alston claims Aust broadband "on par" with rest of the world

In an exclusive interview with ZDNet Australia  at the launch of the GrangeNet academic network in Canberra today, Senator Richard Alston said "We're really doing pretty well - broadband is in its infancy around the world.

"In most countries the business sector would like to see some stimulus because many see potential for their own operations, and there are many calls for government to intercede."

However, Alston reasserted his position that the Australian government had no obligation to "underwrite the private sector", saying his views echoed the hands-off approach taken by governments in Europe and the United States.

The Minister said his travels brought his attention to a number of different alternatives for the delivery of Internet connectivity, including a service by the name of Linda.net provided by a power utility in Iceland which delivers Internet connectivity via power infrastructure.

"Even though in Australia we have seen the utilities work together to provide Internet connectivity it will be interesting to see if there is a business case for this type of technology," Alston said.

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This moron wants a business ca ...Anonymous -- 16/10/02

This moron wants a business case for the government to support the rollout of broadband? If we look at history, we see that any technology which enables more efficient communication between people and organisations seeds advancement in all areas of society. Look at radio, telephone and television. This is absolutely neccesary for the future of our country! How can he be so content with following the US and the UK? Does our government have no interest in the future of our economy and country? Maybe our government would be happier for our country to become another state of the US, or revert back to being an English Colony... It certainly seems like they have no interest in being leaders.

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I'd like to know which world A ...In A State Of Shock -- 16/10/02

I'd like to know which world Alston is referring to , as it's not the one in which all of us live.

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What rubbish. I now live in th ...Sasha Grebe -- 17/10/02

What rubbish. I now live in the UK and broadband is far more appealing and available to consumers here. Alston yet again proves that he has no idea about technology and/or science.

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I dont think that rollout is a ...Anonymous -- 17/10/02

I dont think that rollout is a problem, they seem to take attention away from the real problems and smoke screen with something they know to be okay, so that they may appear to be the good guys.

8mbps ADSL in Aus? bah
Uncapped d/l's bah
usage meters that work bah
I could go on, but Senator aint gonna listen. Maybe technology that could allow you to smack someone upside the head is on its way and hes to frightened he wont be able to use any telecommunications without receiving a thickhead :)

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What a load of S$#T! The reaso ...Anonymous -- 17/10/02

What a load of S$#T!

The reason the US and UK can be content with a "hands-off" approach is..hello?.. there's a bigger population, more avaiablity and commercial competition in those countries. Hence, the prices are low and service quality remains high, just so companies can stay in business.

In this country, we have really only one company, Selstra, that controls the whole broadband scene, and they don't seem to be submissing to the consumer or are likely to anytime soon. I mean who does their competition lease lines from? THEM! Leaving Telstra to their own means is like leaving the Iraq problem soley to the George Bush...

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Alston, you can take your foot ...Anonymous -- 17/10/02

Alston, you can take your foot out of your mouth now! Oh hang on, don't bother, you'll only put it back in there again.

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One word. Telstra. You will k ...Anonymous -- 17/10/02

One word. Telstra. You will know how inefficient and expensive broadband is here in Australia.

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I don't think Sen Alston even ...Anonymous -- 17/10/02

I don't think Sen Alston even realises how many people in Canberra can't get any form of broadband (Satellite doesn't count due to upload restrictions), myself included. Most of Canberra, even the new estates, are stuck on pair-gain lines, thus no ADSL, and TransACT I won't seem them past my place until 2004/5.

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I'd tell Senator Alston not to ...Anonymous -- 17/10/02

I'd tell Senator Alston not to be stupid, but I'm already years late for that.

I'm an expatriate currently living in Hong Kong. For around AUD$40 a month (the cost of Bigpond's unlimited dialup service) I've got a 3Mb ADSL link with no limits.

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What a crap Alston said. He be ...Anonymous -- 17/10/02

What a crap Alston said. He better start look at Australia closely then. I try to install ADSL in my workplace in Noble Park and got rejected cause my workplace to "far away" from the exchange.
Not too mention the high cost of broadband with all that limited download.

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The Mad Hatter's at it again. ...K.Styles (A very,very disgruntled user) -- 17/10/02

The Mad Hatter's at it again. Alston props up his lack of knowledge yet again, by demonstrating he knows Bu$%er all about the Australian Telecommunications scene and he must surely have been lead by the nose by overseas execs, to try to have us believe we are on a par with them. No cable and No ADSL for a vast majority of people in the main business centres of the city & country make his statements a joke & a laughing stock of the Asian region. Situation NORMAL!!!

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In Singapore, broadband was in ...Anonymous -- 17/10/02

In Singapore, broadband was introduced many years ago...
In South Korea broadband is the only way to get connected if you dont want to get laughed at.
In Japan, don't even let me get started with Japan.
In the US ever since the dawn of television and Cable, the US have the infrastructure for broadband whilst Australia does not... hell what about regional Australia? They can't even get a decent 33.6 kbps connection....
My next door neighbour has a sticker on his car saying " No Cables over (name of suburb)SA.". Australia really embrace technology!
ADSL is a useless one way copper technology.

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Give the poor guy a break, its ...Anonymous -- 17/10/02

Give the poor guy a break, its is obvious that the hallucinogenics prescribed by Dr Zit are working just fine.

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Senile old twit and on par to ...Anonymous -- 17/10/02

Senile old twit and on par to killing the IT industry. That is all I can think about when this liver lips makes statements purley aimed at positioning Telstra for its final sale.

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Expect nothing but this sort o ...Anonymous -- 17/10/02

Expect nothing but this sort of crap from the luddite.

He said that broadbands only used for porn and games etc.

Not that he would know what broadband is, let alone anything about the mess its in, in this country

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Aussie internet sucks I can't ...Steve -- 17/10/02

Aussie internet sucks

I can't even get 56K on my phone line coz it's pair gain and all new lines in my region are pair gain.
As for broadband it's still expensive and download limits of most residential packages are so crap.
I have broadband at work and use it fully for all my downloads. very often it comes to 1-2GB per day.
If I were to do this at home on a broadband package, that would be damn expensive.

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Senator Richard Alston denying ...Salim Moeladawilah -- 18/10/02

Senator Richard Alston denying that we have a problem when it comes to broadband here in Australia is only going to drag us further behind the pack it the technology world. Why is the senator so content with Australia being the followers? So what if we are on par with the rest of the world (and we aren't). Shouldn't Australia, and any other country for that matter, be aiming to be global leaders?

The mere existence of the infamous 3GB cap at the price users are paying for broadband should be an indication itself that we are behind the times. 3GB may seem like a lot for your average dial-up user, but believe you me, if you were able to download at greater speed you will also be downloading more things over the period of time you are online. What ever happened to good old Aussie ingenuity?

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That's why Australia has one o ...Anonymous -- 18/10/02

That's why Australia has one of the lowest home-user broadband penetrations in the world. We have a Communications Minister who is so naive, no wonder we are not getting growth in this field..
ZDNET should have a poll on the competency of this old crack-pot..

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Broad my a$$ i can tell austra ...Anonymous -- 18/10/02

Broad my a$$ i can tell australia will have a serious IT personal shortage in the future, high tech kiddies all leaving this messed up country

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What I really find shocking is ...Charles Tisse -- 18/10/02

What I really find shocking is the fact that Australia is even in the top 20 for broadband connections and the UK isn't.

Out of all the "OECD" countries, Australia is ranked 16th while the UK is ranked 22nd. If you take into account countries which are not on the OECD list (Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan), then Australia would be ranked 19th and the UK would be ranked 25th.

How the hell does that work out when the UK has better broadband plans than we do?? Must be because of all those people who don't have a clue and just sign up to that laughable $54 per month Telstra plan.

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Australias broadband policy (i ...Anonymous -- 18/10/02

Australias broadband policy (if you can go so far as to call it that) is terrible. I cant get broadband and not one of my friends has it either. It's either too expensive, unavailable or they see no good reason to fork out the cash.

Dont even get me started on the IT policy wich has no direction or planning. It seems out government is intent on selling our soul to the highest bidder.

Our government is very good at getting elected I'll give em that. They only appeal to the greed in people and have no thought for our future.

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Well if he gave all the city u ...Anonymous -- 18/10/02

Well if he gave all the city users a good deal and quality service it'd be another thing that's not up to scratch in the bush. It's much easier if nobody gets a decent service. Then they can sell Telstra because the quality of broadband in the regional areas will be as good (or as bad in this case) as in the city. What a great plan! We'll future proof the bush by ensuring that there is no future.

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this moron dont have a clue. i ...Anonymous -- 20/10/02

this moron dont have a clue. its like hello people in america can like have a T1 and yet the fastest we can get is cable? what is that? there are people in this country willing to pay for it and yet they cant have it as they wont let them. its not a question of money. i for one would pay nicely for a decent broadband service to be available to people who ca afford it.

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Att: Richard Alston. If you th ...Anonymous -- 26/10/02

Att: Richard Alston.

If you think Australia broadband is so called "on par" with the rest of the world that you have visited, I suggest you to visit Asia countries like Hong Kong where most users are on broadband.

My cousins are one example of Hong Kong people who have taken up broadband and are only paying about $25 a month for unlimited access and downloads. Here the minimum is $54.95 for a light user with maybe 500MB download or 1GB at the most.

I suggest he visit more countries and think again. Even in Hong Kong people don't have to pay for local calls they pay a flat monthly fee approx $20. That's what you call competition.

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I think it's expensive and up ...Greg Byrne -- 27/10/02

I think it's expensive and up till now hard to get. I think it's time Telstra lost its monopoly and all broadband was on the open market. I think OPtus should have the same access to the network as Telstra. The focus should be in the rights and interests of the consumers not the government monopoly as it is now.

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I think it's expensive and up ...Greg Byrne -- 27/10/02

I think it's expensive and up till now hard to get. I think it's time Telstra lost its monopoly and all broadband was on the open market. I think OPtus should have the same access to the network as Telstra. The focus should be in the rights and interests of the consumers not the government monopoly as it is now.

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I think it's expensive and up ...Greg Byrne -- 27/10/02

I think it's expensive and up till now hard to get. I think it's time Telstra lost its monopoly and all broadband was on the open market. I think OPtus should have the same access to the network as Telstra. The focus should be in the rights and interests of the consumers not the government monopoly as it is now.

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