During a breakfast briefing on the future of telecommunications hosted by the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC), Dr Bradlow condemned the recent marketing efforts of several of Telstra's competitors, claiming to provide "cheap broadband".
"There's a lot of snake oil being sold by people claiming they have cheap [broadband] options, but they end up being more expensive because they are deploying obsolete fibre," said Dr Bradlow.
During his keynote speech, Dr Bradlow also addressed comments of delays in broadband deployment and uptake in Australia, citing issues such as unrealistic expectations and perception of the technology itself.
"People forget that we had 120 years to get the telephone working, but expected us [Australian telcos] to get something much more complex up and running in a few months," stated Bradlow, adding that "This didn't happen anywhere in the world."
Dr Bradlow, however, is pleased with Telstra's broadband efforts, revealing that the telco has made broadband available to almost 100 percent of Australia, through its satellite, ADSL and cable modem services. The take-up of these services has also been encouraging, according to Dr Bradlow, who stated that Australian broadband take-up was commensurate with that of take-up in the US and UK.
However, according to Dr Bradlow, it is the utilisation of broadband, and the services available through this medium, that need to be addressed in order to realise the full potential of the technology.
"There is all sorts of wild and woolly talk about what broadband is, but at the moment, it is just fast Internet," said Dr Bradlow.
His belief is that to fully exploit the opportunities offered by this technology, companies need to look at the network, access, CPE (customer premises equipment) and content.
"Unless these line up, you don't have a solution," said Dr Bradlow.
Dr Bradlow was a keynote speaker at the AICC breakfast briefing, which aimed to grow support for the AICC's 2002 Telecom Mission to Israel. A trade delegate consisting of representatives from leading Australian businesses is expected to travel to Israel in November to address the emerging opportunities between Australia and Israel in the telecommunications space.
I'd rather have a cheap snake-oil broadband that works than the shonky quality of the ADSL service offered by Telstra.