A recent article by Christopher on the Amateur Ethicist website argued that American technology dominance is increasingly being undermined by the way the United States uses law, sanctions and national security powers to control access to digital infrastructure. While the language of that article is more provocative than I would use, its central message deserves […]
Digital sovereignty and the danger of the off switch Read More »
The Federal Government deserves credit for recognising that artificial intelligence has become a matter of national policy. Its new AI strategy addresses important issues such as governance, energy consumption, water use and copyright protection. These are sensible initiatives. But these are not the issues that will determine Australia’s future in the AI economy. Energy and
Australia has an AI regulatory strategy. It still needs an AI infrastructure strategy. Read More »
For years, Starlink has been viewed primarily as a rural telecommunications solution. In Australia, where vast distances make traditional telecommunications infrastructure expensive to build and maintain, the service has provided a valuable alternative for remote communities, farmers, mining operations, Department of Defence, and regional businesses. That narrative, however, is becoming increasingly outdated. With more than
The Starlink challenge: Australia’s next hyperscaler problem Read More »
The nationwide disruption to Telstra’s mobile network this week will no doubt trigger the familiar cycle of investigations, regulatory scrutiny and calls for greater accountability. That is entirely appropriate. Australians expect reliable communications, especially when failures disrupt transport systems, electronic payments and even emergency calls. Yet focusing solely on what went wrong inside Telstra risks
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s decision to end its Measuring Broadband Australia program marks the close of an important chapter in Australia’s telecommunications history. When the program was launched in 2017, it addressed a genuine problem. Australian consumers were paying for broadband services that often failed to deliver the speeds they had been promised.
The end of an era: Why Australia’s broadband watchdog can finally stand down Read More »
While visiting the Netherlands, I was struck by the release of a University of Amsterdam report on minimum age limits for social media. Of particular interest was that Australia’s under-16 social media ban featured prominently in the report. The Dutch researchers did not treat Australia’s policy as a model to be copied. Rather, they used
Australia’s social media ban offers lessons for the Netherlands Read More »
Australia’s telecommunications industry has a reputation problem. Mention telecommunications in the media and the discussion quickly turns to outages, data breaches, dropped calls, customer complaints or the latest regulatory intervention. The industry’s public image has become one of failure rather than achievement. Some of this criticism is justified. The Optus outage, the Triple Zero disruption,
Telecoms under attack: Why Australia is forgetting its greatest infrastructure success Read More »
While much attention is focused on defence agreements, trade negotiations and geopolitical tensions, one of the most significant developments for Australia’s future may have occurred with far less fanfare. I am currently in Europe and saw the news on TV. This is what the European Union published. The European Union and Australia have successfully concluded
Australia joins Europe’s innovation powerhouse: Why Horizon Europe matters Read More »
A recent international report warns that artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming the invisible infrastructure of society — and we are not prepared for the consequences. This article draws on the April 2026 report Building a Human Resilience Infrastructure for the AI Age by Elon University’s Imagining the Digital Future Center . For me, this is
AI is not just technology — it’s reshaping society in ways we don’t control Read More »
Nearly every other day, another report appears describing how Chinese state-sponsored actors have hacked a government agency, infiltrated a software supply chain, or quietly embedded themselves inside critical digital infrastructure. Sometimes it is a defence contractor, sometimes a university, sometimes a health provider, port operator or telecommunications system. The pattern is now so familiar that
Why is there so little diplomatic action on Chinese state-sponsored hacking? Read More »
The 2026–27 Federal Budget tells an important story about Australia’s digital future — not through bold visionary nation-building, but through something far more revealing: the government is spending billions simply trying to keep critical digital systems functioning, secure and politically manageable. That is perhaps the most striking ICT message in this Budget. On paper, the
Cyber security, Digital ID and the rise of the permanent digital state Read More »
Deloitte’s latest TMT Predictions 2026 Australia report confirms what has been quietly emerging over the past few years: the AI revolution is no longer about software innovation—it is about infrastructure, energy, and control. For Australia, this represents a critical strategic moment. The country is investing heavily in digital infrastructure, yet risks becoming structurally dependent on
Australia’s AI future will be decided by energy and sovereignty, not algorithms Read More »
For years, we have known the system wasn’t working. Climate risks were escalating. Supply chains were fragile. Big Tech was consolidating power. Social media was distorting public debate. Yet despite repeated warnings, meaningful reform remained elusive. History shows why. Systems rarely change by design — they change under pressure. That raises an uncomfortable question: is
Disruption without a plan: Why Trump’s chaos could still trigger global change Read More »
In 1818, an 18-year-old Mary Shelley published Frankenstein, a novel often reduced to a gothic horror story but, in reality, a profound philosophical critique of scientific ambition. Written at the height of the Enlightenment, the book reflects both the optimism of that era and its blind spots. Shelley’s story is not simply about a monster.
Mary Shelley’s warning in the age of artificial intelligence Read More »
I vividly remember the Moon landing in 1969. Watching the recent Artemis II capsule splash down, it felt like a moment of déjà vu, the same visuals – be it in a better quality now – the same ocean recovery, almost unchanged after more than half a century. From that perspective, it is tempting to
Artemis brings us back to the Moon while space governance falls behind Read More »
How digital systems reshape our world Debates about artificial intelligence, data centres and social media usually focus on regulation, energy use, cybersecurity and productivity. These are important issues, but they share a hidden assumption: technology is treated as an object, something outside society that we can manage through better rules or better engineering. A different
Living inside the machine: AI, hyperscalers and the new world of Dasein Read More »
At the start of the social media era, there was a widespread belief that these platforms would strengthen democracy. By lowering the barriers to participation, they appeared to give ordinary citizens a voice, bypass traditional gatekeepers and enable new forms of civic engagement. The Arab Spring became the defining example of this optimism. But that
Social media and the restructuring of democratic authority Read More »
This article examines a dangerous direction that artificial intelligence is currently taking. This is not a theoretical risk or a distant future scenario. It is unfolding now, driven not by the technology itself, but by the economic system shaping how AI is being developed and deployed. We have seen this over and over again over
From alarm to accountability: why AI is repeating a dangerous and familiar pattern Read More »
Australia’s telecommunications sector is often presented as a success story: near-universal internet access, rising data use, expanding mobile networks and steadily improving broadband speeds. The Australian Communications and Media Authority’s Trends and developments in telecommunications 2024–25 report broadly supports that narrative. But the same report also exposes a harder truth. While technology and consumer behaviour
Australia’s telecoms market is growing – but still trapped by yesterday’s decisions Read More »
In an interview published by CommsDay, NBN Co CEO Ellie Sweeney noted that residential average revenue per user (ARPU) has reached $52, finally surpassing the long-standing $51 benchmark that earlier NBN leadership regarded as necessary for sustainable operation of the network. After more than a decade, this is a symbolic milestone. The $51 figure dates
NBN’s $52 ARPU milestone: why the headline matters less than what lies beneath Read More »
New OECD data shows that more than one-third of people across OECD countries used generative AI tools in 2025. Among students aged 16 and over, usage rises to around three-quarters. Artificial intelligence has moved from novelty to everyday utility at extraordinary speed. Australia is unlikely to be lagging. If anything, we are probably above the
Australia’s AI paradox: mass adoption, minimal strategy Read More »
The crisis comes firstThe starting point is not theory but reality. The neoliberal system that has dominated much of the world since the 1980s is now delivering instability, inequality, and institutional breakdown rather than prosperity and security. Housing has become unaffordable, essential services overstretched, public trust eroded, and governments increasingly incapable of managing crises that
Care economies – a way out of the neoliberal collapse Read More »
From philosophical interest to empirical reality My long-standing interest in quantum technologies has never been purely technical. It has been conceptual and philosophical: how abstract scientific ideas move from theory into practice, and how societies decide when — and whether — to convert knowledge into power, infrastructure and economic consequence. For much of the past
Quantum’s second act: Data, discipline and geopolitics Read More »
1968: learning politics as a student In 1968 I was a student, and like many of my generation I was swept up in a moment when history seemed unusually open. I still have a photograph from that year: I am standing in a market square, speaking to passers-by about the need for change and for
From 1968 to AI: a personal journey through power, technology and democracy Read More »
For more than a decade, the global telecommunications industry has relied on a familiar narrative: each new generation of mobile technology will unlock new revenue streams, justify massive capital expenditure, and restore growth. That story is now wearing thin. As I have mentioned on many occasions, revenue growth across the sector has flattened, 5G has
Is 6G already in trouble? Telecoms in an era of flat revenues and runaway AI investment Read More »
The digital world no longer resembles the internet many of us once knew. By 2026 we have entered an era where the systems that support our lives operate beneath the surface, shaped by forces most people never see. Outages come and go, accounts are compromised without explanation, and online information feels less reliable with each
Why illicit systems persist In a recent email conversation with my colleague David Bray we discussed the Dark Web, This prompted me to research the elements that he mentioned a bit further. The Dark Web does not endure because anonymity technologies are unstoppable. It survives because enforcement is fragmented, jurisdictions clash, and the cost of
The Dark Web survives on fragmented enforcement – and space may be next Read More »
For the last 80 years, the world has operated on the assumption of growth — more people, more production, more innovation. But that cycle, born out of the post-WWII peace and prosperity boom, is showing signs of strain. Behind today’s most pressing issues — climate change, housing stress, digital inequality, and geopolitical instability — lies
From boom to burden: why the tech economy must adapt to a post-growth world Read More »
A few years ago (2021), I reflected on whether information might be more than a tool of technology—perhaps something far more foundational. Since then, physics has remained at a crossroads. Despite incredible advances in particle accelerators, quantum computing, and astronomical observation, we’re still staring into an enormous black box. The universe continues to withhold its
Has physics hit a wall – or is Information the Next Revolution? Read More »
Democracies have historically emerged during periods of peace and economic prosperity, where trade flourishes, and societies experience increased well-being. Merchants, as key facilitators of trade, have been instrumental in advocating for and sustaining these peaceful and prosperous conditions. However, these systems are not immune to decline, often influenced by economic disparities, erosion of democratic norms,
The emergence and decline of democracies: the pivotal role of merchants Read More »
Understanding technological stagnation I have just read the book What We Owe the Future from the philosopher William MacAskill. He takes a very long-term view of our future, discussing the challenges humanity may face over hundreds, thousands, and even millions of years—just mind-boggling to think about. He also explores the role of technology in this
The hidden dangers of technological stagnation—and why there is still hope Read More »
Throughout history, technological innovation has been a driving force behind societal progress. It has reshaped the way we live, communicate, and address challenges. Yet, like a double-edged sword, technology often carries unintended consequences that undermine its potential for good. The nuclear bomb, the internet, social media, and artificial intelligence (AI) all stand as prime examples
Balancing progress and peril: my reflections on technology’s duality Read More »
As mentioned before, philosophy is one of my great passions. In the past I have already been reflecting on how deeply technology has embedded itself into every aspect of our lives. While its advancements have brought immense convenience and innovation, I can’t help but recall the stark warnings of philosophers I have followed over the
The dangers of technological dependency Read More »
The rapid advancement of technology has transformed societies, reshaped economies, and altered political landscapes. While it has driven unprecedented progress, it has also contributed to the challenges we face today—rising inequality, social fragmentation, and a reliance on crises to spur meaningful change. Understanding the interplay of technology with social, economic, and political forces is critical
Technology and society: navigating innovation in a fractured world Read More »
The global telecommunications landscape is undergoing seismic changes, driven by the aggressive expansion of hyperscalers, data centres, and disruptive technological advancements. As Grahame Lynch aptly observes in his CommsDay analysis of 2024’s defining moments, these developments are not isolated—they reflect a deeper reconfiguration of global connectivity that challenges traditional players and reshapes the industry for
For more than 30 years, I have been closely following annual telecommunications statistics we used them in our international telecommunications reports. For decades, these were provided by Ericsson, and later by the International Telecommunication Union (the oldest UN organisation, established in 1865!). Over the past two decades, the scope of these statistics has broadened, encompassing
Bridging the Digital Divide: A call to action for universal connectivity Read More »
The world is in turmoil, and nobody sems to have an idea on where this will end or how this will develop. We are at a point where critical decisions will need to be made to avoid serious problems or if we don’t make such decisions as often happens in such situation, mostly because a
Society in turmoil, How did we get there to get a glimpse on where we are going Read More »
As we discussed before in various articles on this topic, Smart city initiatives can and in some situations already are revolutionising urban living by harnessing data and technology to enhance efficiency, sustainability, and overall quality of life. These initiatives integrate various technological advancements, resulting in significant impacts on public services, safety, energy efficiency, environmental sustainability,
Smart cities are investigating the use of AI Read More »
The revelations by Edward Snowden in 2013 marked a pivotal moment in the history of internet security. Snowden’s disclosures about the extent of government surveillance shattered global trust, affecting not only ordinary individuals but also policymakers and tech giants. One of the significant shifts in the aftermath was the transition from HTTP to HTTPS (TLS/SSL
The Post-Snowden Era: Transformation of Internet Security and Encryption Read More »
Those who you have read previous article from me know my interest in philosophy and it is interesting to see that some of the philosophers have also thought about our digital technologies and what that means for our society. To better understand the thoughts of philosophers like Bernard Siegler, Louise Althusser, Michel Foucault, and Jacques
What do Philosophers think about our Digital World? Read More »
In the contemporary era, digital technologies have become inextricable from our daily lives, deeply influencing our perceptions, behaviours, and experiences. The pervasive presence of digital tools and networks has reshaped how we interact with the world, rendering the distinction between the digital and the physical increasingly blurred. The ubiquitous screens and data feeds serve as
Navigating the Opportunities and Challenges of Ubiquitous Technology. Read More »
Defense company DroneShield has opened new headquarters in Sydney, tripling its sovereign defense R&D and manufacturing capacity to $400 million. The new site in Pyrmont follows DroneShield’s recent $115 million capital raise, which it will use to scale operations. The headquarters will include facilities for DroneShield’s 120 local staff and a dedicated floor for high-tech
Australian Company Taking a Leadership Role in Drone Protection Read More »
I am a regular user of Booking.com and I find the service very convenient. However, as soon as you have an issue that you need to discuss with them, their customer system falls down completely, or worse it simply doesn’t exist. I noticed a charge of $1027 on my credit card with the description “Hotel
Booking.com: One of the Worst Digital Media Companies on the Planet Read More »
In recent years, the landscape of investment strategy has witnessed a remarkable shift towards Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles, marking a paradigmatic evolution in how businesses navigate their operations and how investors allocate their funds. At its essence, ESG encompasses three fundamental pillars: ESG investing, once regarded as a niche pursuit for socially conscious
Environmental, Social, and Governance winning more and more terrain. Read More »
Australia’s Digital Governance recognised by the OECD This time Australia has something to celebrate and to be proud off. The country’s ascendancy in the digital governance realm has been underscored by its remarkable debut performance in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Digital Government Index (DGI). The DGI, a comprehensive assessment of digital
Australia’s Digital Governance recognised by the OECD Read More »
The obvious answer is of course yes, as in philosophy we are already struggling for 2500 years to address some of the most critical questions of life. Why is there life, what is it purpose, are we alone in the universe, what is the purpose of the universe, is there perhaps a multiverse and so
Is there a human limit to knowledge? Read More »
Australia’s telecommunications sector is entering a period of structural tension. Connectivity has become an essential national service, underpinning emergency response, banking, energy systems, healthcare, transport and democratic participation. Yet the industry is still regulated and structured largely as a competitive consumer market. The ACCC’s latest Communications Market Report highlights a sector that remains operationally stable,
Australia’s telecommunications industry: an essential service on weakening foundations Read More »
It is now abundantly clear that the Optus Triple Zero outage was not just a technical glitch. Ten separate failures do not happen by accident. What failed at Optus was risk governance — the discipline that is supposed to protect essential services when routine work goes wrong. This distinction matters, because focusing on firewalls, procedures
Optus didn’t suffer a glitch — Australia suffered a governance failure Read More »
For all the breathless talk about “humanoid AI” taking over the world, we keep forgetting a basic biological truth: a human mind does not come from a clever brain, it comes from a living body. Not just any body, but one built cell by cell inside another person, shaped by immune responses, hormones, hunger and
Why a truly humanoid AI may not be possible Read More »
When John Logie Baird (from the Logie Awards) transmitted the first recognisable television image in October 1925, he launched a technology that would shape the next century more profoundly than radio, newspapers or even the early internet. For decades, television unified societies. Today, as it turns 100, it increasingly mirrors our divisions. And with the
100 years of television: from trusted campfire to algorithmic battleground Read More »
The International Telecommunication Union’s new Facts and Figures 2025 report has been widely welcomed for highlighting a landmark moment: six billion people are now online, roughly three-quarters of the global population. But while the world celebrates a major step forward, the report also reveals a more complex story about the changing nature of the digital
Australia is connected, but no longer a digital leader Read More »
The Government’s Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation (UOMO) is an ambitious attempt to enhance mobile coverage across Australia by using Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite technology. For a country the size of Australia, this approach makes sense. Yet as recent events have shown, relying on emerging technologies without proven resilience carries major political and operational risks.
Over the past few years, I have written several analyses on the profound structural changes unfolding across the ICT sector. I have discussed how artificial intelligence is transforming data centres into vast energy consumers, how telecommunications networks are shifting from “dumb pipes” to intelligent systems, and how digital technologies increasingly intersect with energy policy, governance,
The rise of cognitive infrastructure Read More »
Australia must treat telecommunications as a strategic asset
Paul Budde – Australian Financial Review Read More »
This time Australia has something to celebrate and to be proud off. The country’s ascendancy in the digital governance realm has been underscored by its remarkable debut performance in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Digital Government Index (DGI). The DGI, a comprehensive assessment of digital government strategies and initiatives, serves as a
Australia’s Digital Governance recognised by the OECD Read More »
Only a short time ago, the announcement that Australia would host a “Top Secret Cloud” built by Amazon Web Services (AWS) would have passed without controversy. It was presented as a practical step in strengthening intelligence and defence cooperation with our closest ally, the United States. But with America now showing unmistakable signs of democratic
The illusion of sovereignty: how technology is binding Australia to an illiberal ally Read More »
Yesterday’s meeting in Canberra between Communications Minister Anika Wells and the CEOs of Telstra, Optus and TPG marks an important moment in Australia’s long struggle to secure its most critical communications infrastructure. The three chief executives were called in to brief the minister on their readiness to meet new Triple Zero obligations taking effect on
Three Australians have now died after their triple zero calls failed to connect during the most recent disastrous Optus outage. Around 600 Triple Zero calls were affected across South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. In the past we have warned about the potential loss of life as a result of such outages, to
Optus outage shows the cost of neglect — and Telstra still forgets the last mile Read More »
Abstract Surveillance technologies, once limited to cameras and databases, have evolved into powerful tools of control. Driven by artificial intelligence, they no longer just influence behaviour but increasingly shape it, raising profound risks for democracy. This article traces the shift from surveillance capitalism to today’s societies of control, drawing on thinkers such as Foucault and
From surveillance to control — how convenience hands power to authoritarian practice Read More »
The news that three people have died after their triple zero calls failed to connect during the latest Optus outage is the nightmare scenario many of us have long feared. This wasn’t just an inconvenience or a business disruption — this time, the cost was human lives. When I wrote about the Optus outage in
Optus outage shows again: lives are at risk when telcos underinvest in resilience Read More »
Long before the digital revolution, a little-known wartime technology called SIGSALY quietly reshaped the future of secure global communication — and Brisbane played a key role in its deployment. Developed by Bell Telephone Laboratories during World War II, SIGSALY was the world’s first digital voice encryption system. It allowed Allied leaders to speak securely across
Brisbane’s role in the birth of secure digital communication Read More »
When Telstra CEO Vicki Brady took to the podium at the National Press Club in September 2025, she declared: “We have a small window of opportunity now to position ourselves for the future as technology evolves. That window is closing fast.” This kind of urgency might seem refreshing from a telco chief, but for those
Telstra’s platform pivot still forgets the last mile Read More »
For years, I have raised the alarm on the unchecked power of the global digital giants—Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Meta, and others—and the risk this poses to fair competition, innovation, and national sovereignty. I have argued that their dominance is no longer just about search engines, social media, or app stores. It extends deeply into the
People first, technology second When Frans-Anton Vermast, Amsterdam’s internationally recognised smart city ambassador, visited Australia earlier this year, his message was clear: a truly smart city starts and ends with people. Technology is not the goal—it is the tool. If technology is the answer, one should think again about what the real question is. That
From smart cities to adaptive cities: AI’s role in shaping urban futures Read More »
While the world is surfing faster than ever, not everyone is catching the wave equally. A new OECD report reveals that although broadband connectivity is improving globally, the gap between urban and rural areas is not only persisting—it’s widening. For Australia, these findings offer both a warning and a call to action. Global progress, local
Digital divide widens despite faster internet: What the OECD report says about Australia Read More »
Artificial intelligence is moving at an exponential pace, and organisations around the world are racing to embrace it. From banking and healthcare to logistics and media, AI is no longer just a laboratory experiment but a rapidly adopted operational tool. This global rush is driving an extraordinary demand for computing power. To meet this surge,
AI’s exponential rise: growth, power, and looming risks Read More »
In the July 5th edition of the Good Weekend, I read an article titled “The Final Chapter”. It delivered a sobering message: fewer people are reading, and when they do, they’re reading less. Bookstores may still exist, but the habit of reading books—especially among young people—is since the 1990s in steep decline. The piece paints
How digital culture is strangling literacy—especially among boys Read More »
For over a decade, the rollout of Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN) has been mired in political compromise and technical regression—most notably through the adoption of Fibre-to-the-Node (FTTN) as a cornerstone of the than Coalition government’s revised NBN strategy. The most recent NBN Annual Service Improvement Plan FY26, released 24 July 2025, now confirms, in
Fibre after the fact: NBN’s retrofit scramble confirms flawed copper legacy Read More »
Australia’s digital connectivity problems are not just technical—they’re structural. For too long, governments and regulators have accepted a market logic that favours infrastructure builders and service providers over the very people who rely on them. The latest findings from the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) offer yet another wake-up call: Australians see internet and
Australians deserve better than a digital market built on inertia Read More »
The Twenty-ninth Measuring Broadband Australia Report, released in June 2025 by the ACCC and prepared by SamKnows (now part of Cisco), presents a reassuring picture on the surface. Australians on NBN fixed-line services are, on average, reaching or exceeding their plan speeds — even during peak hours. For many on fibre, it’s clear that the
Broadband in Australia: Speeding Ahead, But the System Still Lags Behind Read More »
Already a few years back I started to talk about rapid expansion of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations is reshaping the global digital communications landscape. With satellite numbers surging nearly tenfold in a decade, LEO-based connectivity has become a dominant force in space-based telecommunications. A few weeks ago, I mentioned the government’s initiative to
The evolving technical landscape of Low Earth Orbit satellite constellations Read More »
The announcement that Optus will lead a consortium to build, launch and operate a sovereign Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite by 2028 is an encouraging development. It comes at a time when Australia’s dependence on foreign-owned satellite infrastructure—most notably Starlink—raises serious strategic concerns. This risk has only grown in light of recent geopolitical developments, including
As the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) celebrates its 160th anniversary and the UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development marks 15 years of global advocacy, I find myself reflecting on a journey that began with a bold vision: broadband for all. In 2010, I had the privilege of co-founding the Broadband Commission alongside ITU Secretary-General Dr.
There’s no shortage of headlines heralding the power of artificial intelligence. From promises of economic productivity booms to fears of mass job displacement, AI is being hyped as both saviour and threat. But amid all the noise, one critical question often goes unasked: what kind of AI are we even talking about? For most people,
Before we ask what AI can do, let’s ask what kind of AI we’re talking about Read More »
As mentioned last week, Australia’s centralised electricity model is cracking under pressure—climate extremes, AI-driven demand, decentralised generation, and public resistance to top-down infrastructure. If we are to meet these challenges, we need not just smarter grids, but smarter civic energy systems. Beyond the market: rethinking energy as infrastructure Electricity is too often treated as a
Electricity may flow invisibly through copper and silicon, but its implications are tangible: rising bills, collapsing grids, stranded renewables, and vulnerable communities. As we enter an era of climate disruption and AI-fuelled energy demand, it’s clearer than ever that Australia has failed to build an energy system fit for the 21st century. I’ve written before
Telstra’s new Connected Future 30 strategy represents one of the most ambitious attempts yet by the company to move beyond its legacy as a utility provider. As someone who has long commented on the telco’s struggles to transcend its role as a mere “pipe,” I find this latest plan both promising and fraught with significant
Telstra’s bold reinvention: Can the telco finally break free from its ‘dumb pipes’ past? Read More »
As regular readers of my articles will know, I like to explore the intersection of technology, economics, and international affairs through a philosophical lens. At the moment, I’m following the course Philosophy of Passion and Reason: Hume to Martha Nussbaum by Dr Kerry Sanders—someone I’ve referenced in earlier pieces. This week’s discussion centred on the
Educated but unwise: Why tech-savvy societies need moral reasoning more than ever Read More »
The latest OECD data confirms what many of us in the broadband sector have warned about for years: the digital divide is widening not just within countries but between them. Fibre and 5G are expanding rapidly across OECD member nations. Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) is also gaining serious momentum. Yet Australia, once a global trailblazer
Apple’s proposed 2025 launch of the Vision Pro headset has created waves in the tech world, promising to merge the virtual and real worlds through an advanced augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) platform. However, beyond the excitement of immersive entertainment and spatial computing, the Vision Pro also highlights how cutting-edge vision technology is
With Donald Trump in the White House, global markets are under pressure from erratic policy, economic nationalism, and the weaponisation of finance. But beyond the headlines lies a quieter, more profound shift—one that sits at the intersection of technology, economic sovereignty, and global power. This is where Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) come in, and
As we mentioned back in February last year, Australia’s fixed broadband market is set to enter a period of gradual but significant transformation, underpinned by wholesale pricing revisions and infrastructure modernisation initiatives led by the national broadband network operator. Recent changes in wholesale access pricing, set to take effect in the 2025–26 financial year, reflect
End of the Copper Comfort Zone: fibre surge and new pricing threaten telco status quo Read More »
Spain’s blackout is a warning Australia must not ignore The recent collapse of Spain’s electricity network is a stark reminder that the energy transition must be carefully managed. Australia, despite positive progress, cannot afford complacency as it accelerates its move towards a renewable future. On 28 April, Spain suffered a massive blackout that affected most
Spain’s blackout is a warning Australia must not ignore Read More »
In August last year, I reported on my discussion with Frans Anton Vermast, a frequent representative of Amsterdam Smart City at international smart city conferences. He is currently in Australia and we continued our conversation, this time under the new banner of Amsterdam InChange—the evolved name of what was previously known as Amsterdam Smart City.
Bridging continents: how Amsterdam’s vision can power Australia’s future Read More »
Back in 2019, I wrote about what I called “Peak Telecom”—the moment where the traditional telecoms industry hit a ceiling in growth and relevance. The internet had commoditised bandwidth, and telecoms were left managing an expensive infrastructure business, while others—Google, Amazon, Meta—captured the digital value. Five years later, new evidence shows how deeply this shift
Rethinking 5G: why faster isn’t always better, especially in regional Australia Read More »
In a previous article, I discussed the emergence of direct-to-device (D2D) satellite communications and its transformative potential for Australia. With only around 30% of our landmass currently covered by traditional mobile networks, the opportunity to dramatically expand coverage using satellite technology is nothing short of revolutionary. The Australian Government is now considering legislation that would
Direct to device competition possibilities for Australia Read More »
The post-World War II period will likely be remembered as one of the most successful chapters in human history. Out of the devastation of global conflict came the emergence of international institutions, economic rebuilding, technological breakthroughs, and a massive expansion in public education and healthcare. Most importantly, we experienced an extended era of relative peace
The end of the growth cycle: population, peace, and pressure in the 21st century Read More »
I recently watched the four-part Netflix series Adolescence, a raw and unsettling portrayal of teenage life in an era dominated by disconnection, dysfunction — and digital overload. While the series paints an extreme picture, it is a disturbingly recognisable one for anyone paying attention to how social media and smartphones have come to shape the
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the renewed attack on the NBN by the Liberal Party. I also pointed out that many of the problems with fixed wireless services stem from the infamous Multi-Technology Mix (MtM) policy implemented by the Liberals when they were in government. Under their watch, a cheap but inadequate policy
NBN fixed wireless upgrade: a step forward, but will it be enough to challenge Starlink? Read More »
Reassessing the Russian threat In my view, there is no doubt that Russia poses a serious threat to Ukraine. But how much of a threat is it to the rest of Europe? That question seems to be dominating political and military conversations across the continent and beyond. I believe the answer has profound implications—not just
Europe and the Russian threat: preparing for war or preparing for peace? Read More »
In a discussion with my Dutch colleague Hendrik Rood, I discussed the global political and economic landscape which is shifting toward a more autarkic model, reminiscent of the interwar period. Protectionism and national security concerns are driving governments to exert greater control over critical industries, including technology. I also like to refer here to the
Geopolitical fragmentation and the looming geographic breakup of Big Tech Read More »
For over 15 years, I have watched the National Broadband Network (NBN) become one of the most politicised infrastructure projects in Australia’s history. What was supposed to be a game-changing, future-proof national interest project has instead been used as a political football, with disastrous consequences for the country’s digital future. The Liberal Party’s decision to
History often moves in cycles, with periods of stability followed by times of upheaval. Today, the world finds itself in a precarious state, teetering between progress and crisis. Economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, and social instability suggest that we may be nearing a breaking point. Yet, despite these challenges, history also teaches us that new leadership
The world is in a holding pattern—for now Read More »
Understanding technological stagnation I have just read the book What We Owe the Future from the philosopher William MacAskill. He takes a very long-term view of our future, discussing the challenges humanity may face over hundreds, thousands, and even millions of years—just mind-boggling to think about. He also explores the role of technology in this
The hidden dangers of technological stagnation—and why there is still hope Read More »
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming industries at an unprecedented pace, but its rapid adoption comes with a significant challenge: energy consumption. The surge in AI-driven computing is placing immense pressure on power grids worldwide, demanding a fundamental rethink of energy supply, efficiency, and infrastructure planning. Nowhere is this challenge more evident than in data centres—the
At first, forecasters anticipated that the cyclone would make landfall near Brisbane on Thursday, 6 March. However, as it approached, it began to slow down considerably. Each update from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) pushed the expected landfall back by another day, then another, as Alfred’s sluggish movement left the region in an extended state
The Brisbane story of the iritic and slow moving Cyclone Alfred Read More »
The unchecked power of American digital giants has profoundly reshaped our societies.Platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Meta, and Google have connected billions, democratised information, and spurred innovation. However, their success is primarily measured by profits, not societal well-being. This profit-driven approach often leads them to resist regulations designed to curb the spread of harmful content—such
The unchecked power of American digital giants: why Europe must stand firm Read More »
I have mentioned this article over the last two weeks, but here it is. It actually fits in well with the articles from the last two weeks on the NBN and many of the previous NBN discussion we had here in the Australian Independent. The NBN has long been a story of over-investment in potential
The NBN business model should be based on our national interest Read More »
The Government’s Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation (UOMO) is an innovative way to enhance mobile coverage across Australia by leveraging Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. It is well suited for a country the size of Australia. While this initiative holds promise, it also presents several challenges that require careful policy consideration. Developmental Uncertainties and Political Risks
Democracies have historically emerged during periods of peace and economic prosperity, where trade flourishes, and societies experience increased well-being. Merchants, as key facilitators of trade, have been instrumental in advocating for and sustaining these peaceful and prosperous conditions. However, these systems are not immune to decline, often influenced by economic disparities, erosion of democratic norms,
The emergence and decline of democracies: the pivotal role of merchants Read More »
NBN Co has released its financial and operational results for the first half of FY25, reporting steady revenue growth, ongoing network upgrades, and efficiency gains. The company indicated it remains on track to meet its fiscal targets, but the broader impact of its business model and the accessibility of high-speed broadband remain key concerns. Financial
NBN’s half-year fy25 results: solid performance but challenges remain Read More »
Throughout history, technological innovation has been a driving force behind societal progress. It has reshaped the way we live, communicate, and address challenges. Yet, like a double-edged sword, technology often carries unintended consequences that undermine its potential for good. The nuclear bomb, the internet, social media, and artificial intelligence (AI) all stand as prime examples
Balancing progress and peril: my reflections on technology’s duality Read More »
The release of DeepSeek R1, a powerful new large language model (LLM) developed in China on a shoestring budget, has sent shockwaves through the AI community. I am sure, like me, many people chuckled when they heard about this shortly after Trump’s announcement just days earlier of an American initiative based on the old ‘big
The future of AI: specialisation, security, and strategic deployment Read More »
When I first explored the potential of laser communications in my 2020 article, “Is laser going to be the next telecoms frontier?”, it was clear that this technology held immense promise for the future of telecommunications. At the time, I highlighted the limitations of existing infrastructure, such as the high costs of deploying ubiquitous fibre
Laser Communications:” Illuminating’’ the path to the future of connectivity. Read More »
Last week I provided some key ICT predictions for 2025 and AI featured very high in that article. All sort of high level and highly impactive developments are most certainly going to happen for sure. But a little bit closer to earth what many people will personally experience is the massive changes it will cause
The humble spreadsheet is about to get a whole lot smarter Read More »
The Albanese Government has reiterated its commitment to completing the National Broadband Network (NBN) and keeping NBN Co in public hands. The announcement of a $3 billion equity injection, complemented by NBN Co’s own $800 million contribution, aims to upgrade the remaining fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) network. These upgrades will enable access to faster and more reliable
Government invest $3 billion in the NBN Read More »
Starlink Competes As Australia Expands NBN Access
Evrim Ağac – The Pinnacle Gazette Read More »
I am deeply saddened and simultaneously outraged by the ongoing political and social changes in the United States. Once a global beacon of democracy, the country has fallen to 36th place in global democracy rankings, trailing behind Australia at 13th, New Zealand at 7th, and the Nordic countries holding the top four positions. The USA’s
Meta and X abandon fact-checking: a further blow to democratic values Read More »
As mentioned before, philosophy is one of my great passions. More recently I have listened to podcasts of a range of philosophers in the social realm. Many of them have stark warnings about the way society has been developing over the last 150 years. In that way, they actually predicted the crises humanity have gone
Stark warnings against the current global societal and political trends Read More »
I have been writing about telecommunications since the late 1970s, when videotext—an early precursor to the internet—was introduced. Even then, I recognised it as a game changer, shifting telecommunications from a technology-centric field to one that enabled societal and business applications. Over the years, I predicted many of the changes this shift would bring. While
Energy’s transformative journey: Lessons from telecoms Read More »
Happy New Year! I have looked at various industry prediction for 2025 such as those from Deloitte and Gartner based on that I have drown my own conclusion based on my understanding of the key trends and developments as I see them. It will come as no surprise that I see AI and cybersecurity –
2025: A year of transformative technology and ethical challenges Read More »
My interest in philosophy and technology prompted me to start a discussion with ChatGPT on this topic. I first wrote down my thoughts about quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, entropy, and consciousness. What initially sparked this was my grandson’s decision to study engineering at UQ, where thermodynamics is one of the topics. I wanted to engage him
Rewinding the Universal Clock: Could Entropy Be the Key to Looking Back in Time? Read More »
My interest in philosophy and technology prompted me to start a discussion with ChatGPT on this topic. I first wrote down my thoughts about quantum mechanics and consciousness I asked ChatGPT to proofread my initial ideas. However, the matter is so complex so consequently I asked ChatGPT to rewrite the article using analogies and metaphors
The vast majority of people on this planet are peace-loving and law-abiding citizens, going about their lives without any inclination toward violence. Yet history repeatedly shows us that wars erupt, leaving devastation in their wake. Why does this pattern persist, and does the current geopolitical situation suggest that we are on the brink of another
Why does history keep producing wars despite our desire for peace? Read More »
American liberalism has long been a beacon of individual freedom, personal autonomy, and minimal government interference. These principles have shaped the nation’s identity, from its founding to its global influence. Yet, the very strengths of American liberalism are now contributing to its undoing. The unchecked pursuit of individualism has eroded social cohesion, weakened institutional safeguards,
The dangerous path of unchecked liberalism in America Read More »
(24/12/25 – updated with China info) TThe world today is marked by profound uncertainty, a lack of direction, and societal unrest. While such turmoil is not unprecedented, understanding the historical cycles that led us here is critical to navigating our future. From my personal experiences in the post-WWII era, I see clear patterns that reveal
Society in turmoil: reflections on the post-WWII period Read More »
The recent announcement of DAZN’s acquisition of Foxtel marks a pivotal moment in Australia’s media and sports landscape. DAZN, often referred to as the “Netflix of sports,” is a global over-the-top (OTT) streaming service that has redefined how audiences consume live and on-demand sports content. This deal signals a profound shift in the dynamics of
DAZN’s acquisition of Foxtel: A new era for Australian sports streaming Read More »
The rapid advancement of technology has transformed societies, reshaped economies, and altered political landscapes. While it has driven unprecedented progress, it has also contributed to the challenges we face today—rising inequality, social fragmentation, and a reliance on crises to spur meaningful change. Understanding the interplay of technology with social, economic, and political forces is critical
Technology and society: navigating innovation in a fractured world Read More »
The recent conditional approval granted by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to Starlink for its direct-to-cell (D2C) services is a pivotal step in the evolution of global connectivity. The promise of D2C services is nothing short of transformative: a world where your smartphone can connect directly to satellites for emergency communication, no matter how
Direct-to-Cell Services – A game-changer for rural and emergency services? Read More »
Back in 2006, I established the Smart Grid Australia Association. Here, we brought together organisations involved in the development of smart energy, working collaboratively to build smarter communities. Our major success was the government’s decision in 2010 to launch a $100 million Smart City Smart Grid pilot in the Newcastle area. Unfortunately, this initiative was
Unlocking the potential of Smart Grids: A path to Neighbourhood Energy Independence Read More »
The Australian Parliament’s recent passage of the Cyber Security Act 2024 is being touted as a landmark moment for the nation’s cyber resilience. Minister for Cyber Security Tony Burke has described it as “a cohesive legislative toolbox” for navigating an increasingly hostile digital landscape. But while the bill introduces much-needed measures to address cyber threats,
Australia’s Cyber Security Act 2024: A step forward, but at what cost? Read More »
The global transition away from 3G networks marks a pivotal moment in telecommunications, as resources are reallocated to support advanced 4G and 5G technologies. This is not the first time that this happened, the previous generation of 2G was also phased out. A big difference now is that more people are connected to the 3G
The 3G Shutdown: Lessons from Australia and the World Read More »
I recently followed a lecture on the Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset and was particularly struck by his critique of “mass man,” as described in his book Revolt of the Masses. In this work, Ortega provides a sobering perspective on the challenges facing modern society. His concept of mass man depicts a collective mindset
Countering the influence of Mass Man: can technology assist? Read More »
Next level’ messaging technology could be rolled out in Australia next year.
Sezen Bakan – NewsDaily Read More »
The Moon, our celestial neighbour, has long fascinated humanity. From the Apollo missions to recent robotic landers, our exploration of the lunar surface has provided invaluable scientific insights. Now, a new paradigm is emerging: the Moon-as-a-Service (MaaS) business model. Let’s delve into this transformative approach and its implications for commercial space ventures. Government and military
The Future of Lunar Exploration: Moon-as-a-Service Business Models Read More »
The recent acquisition by Vocus of TPG’s fibre network infrastructure, along with a substantial submarine cable portfolio, represents a significant shift in Australia’s telecommunications landscape. This move aligns with a global trend in the telecom industry: a transition from traditional vertically integrated models toward specialised, consolidated infrastructure ownership, often overseen by investment-focused entities. Through this
Vocus-TPG Deal: Reshaping the Future of Australia’s Telecommunications Infrastructure Read More »
Government moves to block any future NBN privatisation amid fears it would hurt consumers
Matthew Elmas – The NewDaily Read More »
This week, the government announced its intention to introduce new legislation that would keep the National Broadband Network (NBN) in public hands, reinforcing its election promise. The proposed law, expected to be tabled in federal parliament, aims to prevent any future sale of the NBN, pushing the Coalition to clarify whether it would seek to
The Future of NBN – Privatisation in a Changing Market Landscape Read More »
Governments worldwide increasingly use data and technology for surveillance, leveraging advancements in AI, machine learning, and data analytics to monitor individuals and populations. This shift has sparked significant debate around the ethical and human rights considerations associated with such practices. I have reported on these issues before; however, as this is such a critical element
The pros and cons of mass government cyber surveillance Read More »
From Norway I travelled to the country of my birth, the Netherlands (18 million inhabitants in a country half the size of Tasmania). I have followed the Duch market over several decades and I have organised government-led trade mission between our two countries in relation to broadband and smart cities. So, it was with interest
The Netherlands: Europe’s Digital Powerhouse Read More »
I am currently in Norway and looked for interesting info to share with you. It didn’t take long to realise that Norway is an absolute leader in Green Technologies, so plenty of firsthand information on these developments from this Nordic country. The country has not only met but often exceeded international commitments to reduce emissions,
Norway’s Leadership in Green Technologies Read More »
Hello from Norway where over 70% if households are now connected to Fibre-to-the-Home or Fibre-to-the-Premise networks. I am using the opportunity to provide you with an overview of developments in this northern country with its beautiful fjords and stunning landscape. Everything is digital here, parking, shopping, museums, trains, you name it. No wonder that the
Norway a leader in Fibre-to-the Home Broadband access Read More »
Predictions indicate that within the next three years, artificial intelligence (AI) capacity will grow exponentially, with no signs of slowing down. As neuroscience and molecular biology unravel more about the human brain, our understanding of consciousness and cognitive processes is expected to deepen significantly. This evolving understanding calls for new metaphors and narratives in neurology
Transforming AI: The emergence of Organoid Intelligence and Ethical Biocomputing Read More »
The June quarter of 2024 has seen smaller telcos making significant strides in the NBN market, according to the latest NBN Wholesale Market Indicators Report released by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The report, prepared by NBN Co, provides a detailed overview of the NBN wholesale market, with a particular focus on residential
Smaller telcos continue to gain ground in the NBN market. Read More »
NBN Co has faced significant challenges in balancing its financial performance despite making strides in operational efficiency and revenue growth. The company’s financial results for FY24 reveal a complex landscape where increased revenue and reduced operational costs are overshadowed by a substantial net loss. However, NBN Co remains committed to its long-term infrastructure goals, particularly
NBN Co Faces FY24 challenges: Growth in fibre demand amidst ongoing financial struggles Read More »
Telstra’s recent financial results have exposed significant underlying challenges within the company, particularly in its enterprise market, which has long been considered a cornerstone of its business. The 13% decline in net profit, down to $1.79 billion, is more than just a financial setback—it’s a clear indication that Telstra is struggling to maintain its competitive
Telstra’s underlaying problems exposed in its financial results. Read More »
When I caught up with my colleague Frans Anton Vermast last week during his visit to Australia, it wasn’t long before the conversation turned to Amsterdam. I have written many articles over the years following the smart city developments of this city. Frans Anton, who frequently represents Amsterdam Smart City at international conferences, has been
Amsterdam: Leading the charge in Digital Sovereignty and Ethical AI Read More »
Back in 2020, I wrote about the SunCable project with a sense of excitement for its ambitious vision. Now, in 2024, that excitement is renewed as this innovative project reaches a significant milestone. In July, the Northern Territory Government gave the green light for Sun Cable to advance its Australia-Asia Power Link, touted as the
Exciting developments for Sun Cable’s Australia-Asia Power Link Read More »
Intel Corporation, one of the leading semiconductor manufacturers, offers a poignant example of how the relentless pursuit of shareholder value can have detrimental effects on a company’s long-term health and competitiveness. This case study delves into Intel’s journey, analysing how changes in leadership focus and market dynamics impacted its strategic direction and competitive edge. Background
The latest broadband statistics from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD )clearly show that Australia is still paying the price for the political footballing around the NBN led by the Coalition during the 2000s. This mismanagement caused a significant delay in progress, and as shown in the statistics we still facing a long
Australia’s broadband growth lags behind New Zealand in latest OECD rankings Read More »
Australia’s 3G network is being shutdown after 20 years, making way for 4G and 5G technology
ABC Breakfast TV interview Read More »
Recently I have been interviewed a couple of times regarding mobile blackspots. The questions I received were along the following lines: In our ever-connected world, staying online and in touch is more important than ever. However, many of us still experience frustrating blackspots, limited mobile coverage in rural areas, and capacity problems in densely populated
Bridging the connectivity gap: Integrating LEO satellites with mobile networks Read More »
What have we learned from last year’s Optus outage? Interestingly I started writing this article on the Friday afternoon the global CrowdStrike outage occurred. It is amazing to reflect on the similarities between the two outages. Both occurred because of a rogue software update and both showing our lack of resilience and ICT diversity. Issues
Crowdstrike and what have we learned from last year’s Optus outage? Read More »
The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) is a committee whose main task is to review and foster international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space, as well as to consider legal issues arising from the exploration of outer space. They met in Vienna, Austria in June and among
Battling the Space Junk Crisis: Global Efforts to Secure the Final Frontier Read More »
I was intrigued about Nvidia eclipsing Microsoft as world’s most valuable company. The company now has a market cap reaches over $3.3 trillion. In the meantime – driven by the AI boom – demand for Nvidia’s AI chips keeps outstripping supply. So, I delved a bit deeper into the company to get a better picture
NVIDIA: the most valued company in the world Read More »
Sigh…. Twenty years after people like me started to argue for fibre-based broadband infrastructure, and fifteen years after the government decided that fibre was the best technology for 94% of all Australians, we now get confirmation that Fibre to the Premises (FttP) is the best technology. Additionally, some ten years after Independent MP Tony Windsor
The unveiling of Subcom‘s comprehensive plans for new submarine cable routes heralds a significant milestone in Australia’s telecommunications landscape. These plans, outlined in marine survey submissions, unveil a grand vision to interconnect the western and eastern coasts of Australia, potentially extending to India. The scale of these ambitions surpasses previous expectations, hinting at a broader
Australia set to become a key hub in the global submarine cable network Read More »
Defense company DroneShield has opened new headquarters in Sydney, tripling its sovereign defense R&D and manufacturing capacity to $400 million. The new site in Pyrmont follows DroneShield’s recent $115 million capital raise, which it will use to scale operations. The headquarters will include facilities for DroneShield’s 120 local staff and a dedicated floor for high-tech
Australian Company Taking a Leadership Role in Drone Protection Read More »
The burgeoning growth of SpaceX’s Starlink service is creating substantial challenges for telecommunications companies. This discussion will cover the impact on the NBN and Telstra in Australia and, more broadly, the issues faced by the South Pacific Islands, as recently discussed at the Australasia Satellite Forum organised by Communication Daily in Sydney. Starlink’s influence now
New satellite operators put pressure on incumbent telcos Read More »
The NBN Wholesale Market Indicators Report, prepared quarterly for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) by NBN Co, offers a comprehensive overview of the NBN wholesale market. This report, focusing on residential broadband access services, highlights the latest trends and key statistics in the market for the March quarter of 2024. Telstra’s market share
Trends in the residential broadband market Read More »
In a groundbreaking move set to reshape the global technological landscape, the Australian and Queensland governments have committed $940 million investment into PsiQuantum, a US-based tech firm founded by two Australians also has a base in Brisbane. This investment marks a pivotal step towards constructing the world’s first utility-scale quantum computer, which will be located
Brisbane home of the World’s First Utility-Scale Commercial Quantum Computer Read More »
The announcement of 2,800 job losses at Telstra is an ‘OMG’ moment. This is not just a readjustment of the business or some fine-tuning; it goes far beyond that and clearly indicates underlying issues forcing the company to make such a dramatic move. For years, it has become clear that Telstra has missed major opportunities
Telstra’s Massive Cost Cutting – The Underlying Issues Read More »
Over the last 30 years, I have followed the Budget announcements and have always looked at what is in it for the ICT industry. It is interesting to follow the trends in such spending. If we go back before a decade or so, ICT projects were very much standalone, often provided to telecommunications companies. However,
The 2024/25 Budget from an ICT Perspective Read More »
Australia stands on the precipice of an impending power shortage crisis, set to hit households and businesses along its eastern coastline by 2027. This crisis stems from the convergence of multiple factors, including the closure of coal-fired power plants, delays in renewable energy projects, and escalating electricity demands. The ramifications of this crisis are dire,
Australia Faces Looming Power Shortage Crisis by 2027: Urgent Strategies Needed Read More »
The dispute between the Australian Government and Elon Musk illustrates one of the challenges we face in the age of digital societies, economies, and politics. An essential aspect of the digital realm is its global nature, rendering national politics less effective when addressing domestic issues. However, addressing the digital impact on politics requires international cooperation,
The blurry line between cybercrime and cyberwarfare Read More »
The latest Digital 2024 report, a collaborative effort between media intelligence provider Meltwater and creative agency We Are Social, unveils a wealth of data and insights shedding light on the current state of the digital realm. One of the most striking revelations from Digital 2024 is the surpassing of the 5 billion mark in active
More than 5 billion social media users – 62% of global population. Read More »
Last week I had my last lecture of the course the Philosophy of Science given by Dr Kerry Sanders from the University of Sydney. This last session covered top scientific breakthroughs based on a paper by Jeremy Lamri “The Promises of Quantum Genetics”. The following is an abstract of the topic as discussed by Dr.
Bridging Quantum Mechanics with AI: The Future of Quantum Genetics Read More »
The symbiotic relationship between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Digital Twins is poised to reshape urban management paradigms, leveraging innovative research and interdisciplinary collaborations. This article, inspired by Dr.Frederico Fialho Teixeira’s enlightening presentation at the University of Queensland, delves deeper into the transformative potential of Digital Twins enhanced by AI across various domains, particularly in the
Digital Twins are getting a real boost from AI Read More »
In the ever-evolving landscape of technology, media, and telecom (TMT), the Australian market stands poised for significant transformation in 2024. With forecasts pointing towards substantial growth and innovation across various sectors, Deloitte’s TMT Predictions 2024 offers a comprehensive outlook on the trends shaping Australia’s digital future. Broadband speeds levelling off. Deloitte predicts a stabilisation in
Deloitte’s technology prediction for 2024 – broadband speeds stabilising Read More »
According to Scamwatch, Sarah from Sydney knows the devastation firsthand. She lost her life savings in a romance scam. The true cost of scams extends far beyond the financial toll – they shatter trust, devastate families, and can even lead to tragedy. As scammers relentlessly target Australians with increasingly sophisticated tactics, we need to urgently
Abstract This article delves into the historical context of global orders, beginning with the aftermath of World War I and the dissolution of empires. The focus then shifts to the post-World War II era, marked by the Atlantic Charter and the establishment of the Bretton Woods System, ushering in a ‘Golden Period.’ The narrative traces
What comes next after the end of the’ golden’ post-WWII era? Read More »
Last week I attended a presentation called “Decoding Thought” organised by the World Science Festival in Brisbane. Here the University of Texas and the UTS in Sydney presented their latest finds on this topic, In recent years, the field of neuroscience has witnessed remarkable breakthroughs in decoding human thoughts directly from brain activity. These advancements,
Advancements in Mind-Reading Technologies: Decoding Thoughts from Brain Activity Read More »
Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands as a double-edged sword in the modern era. Its potential for immense good is paralleled only by the risks it poses if left unchecked. In this discourse, we delve into the multifaceted nature of AI, exploring its capacity for positive impact, the imperative for responsible development and regulation, and the ethical
AI: The Bad, the Good, and the Ugly: Navigating the Ethical Landscape Read More »
It’s been a busy and interesting couple of weeks for the Australian telecoms industry, with all major players presenting results and updates about their businesses. Looking over a 30-year period of competition in the telecoms industry, the big picture remains largely the same. Telstra continues to be the dominant player (over 60% market share), followed
Latest developments in the Australian telecommunications industry Read More »
One day last week, I received several emails and links to stories that form the basis of this article. It started with an ABC News article I read: ‘Twitter is becoming a ‘ghost town’ of bots as AI-generated spam content floods the internet‘ I am part of an international network of ICT experts, and I
The cascading influence of AI, now with high-quality video added to it. Read More »
Looking at telecommunication companies (telcos) as an example they have historically thrived on vertical integration, yielding substantial profits. However, their reluctance to transition into platform-based models has resulted in missed opportunities in the realms of the internet and, more critically, digital media. The prevailing culture within telcos still tends to favour vertically integrated solutions, even
AI opening new business models such as Platform-as-a-Service. Read More »
NBN Co’s groundbreaking plan to boost broadband speeds across Australia is finally delivering the first-class broadband service that Australia as a modern society needs. The announcement has captured the attention of millions, promising to make its most popular plan five times faster without any additional charges. This initiative, aimed at meeting the escalating demand for
NBN bombshell announcement: Finally, high-speed, affordable broadband. Read More »
The Foxtel Group has launched yet another service, this one based on the so-called Hubbl. This is a small set-top box, a streaming entertainment device designed to simplify the user experience for live TV, free-to-air channels, and subscription-based streaming services. Similar devices include: Apple TV, Google Chromecast and Amazon Fire Stick These are Internet-connected devices
Another day, another Foxtel service Read More »
Following my article from last week and your reactions to it, I think it is important to say a few words before delving into another ‘glowing’ nbn story from the company itself, obviously with a bit of spinning that you can expect from large corporations. What we are witnessing now, both regarding the growth of
NBN is making progress but still paying for previous political footballing. Read More »
In recent years, Australia has witnessed a profound transformation in its digital landscape, propelled by the accelerated rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN). New economic research conducted by Accenture commissioned by NBN Co sheds light on the substantial benefits of a faster and more robust NBN network, with implications spanning economic growth, workforce demographics,
The economic and social Impacts of enhanced NBN connectivity Read More »
Globalisation has been driven by transformative financial and economic advancements after WWII, liberating countries from colonial and outdated industrial-age mindsets of production and consumption. These shifts have not only fuelled wealth creation but have also elevated the lifestyles of billions. Enhanced global healthcare, improved food production, and expanded trade have led to a staggering increase
The role technology can play in maintaining the World Order Read More »
For literally decades, I have been relying on the annual statistical reports on the global telecommunications market published by telecommunications giant Ericsson. The reports from the 1980s and 1990s primarily focused on telephone statistics, and over time, they expanded to include broadband and mobile data. However, due to the privatisation of telecommunication services, not all
Global 5G market advanced to 1.6 billion users. Read More »
The government’s initiative to enhance the National Broadband Network (NBN) has expanded eligibility for full-fibre broadband upgrades to over 3 million Australians. An additional 400,000 homes and businesses are set to benefit from this plan, as the latest list of eligible suburbs and towns has been unveiled. These newly eligible premises were previously serviced by
More fibre connections but users stick to lower speeds. Read More »
My earlier two articles (here and here) on the symbiosis between energy and IT (telecoms, AI, data centres) triggered a discussion with my American colleagues on ‘Grid flexibility and Distributed Energy Resources’. They mentioned the interesting developments in the USA shaped by ambitious net zero goals set at the State levels and an unprecedented US$40
Australia’s digital landscape has undergone significant transformations in 2023, as outlined in recent reports from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). They key findings concentrate on three critical perspectives: the state of Australian telecom infrastructure, internet usage patterns, and the dynamic trends in digital communication. ACMA’s series of research reports culminating in 2023 unveiled
Review of Australia’s Digital Evolution in 2023 Read More »
The latest update of the ACCC report “Measuring Broadband Australia (MBA) “ delves into the broadband performance of NBN fixed-line connections in both urban and regional Australia, with a focus on the program’s insights gathered in September 2023. While the report primarily scrutinises fixed-line connections, it acknowledges the prevalence of fixed wireless and satellite connections
Analysis of NBN fixed-lines services in urban and regional Australia Read More »
A study published by the Bureau of Communications,. Arts and Regional Research delves into the realm of telecommunications spending among Australian households, utilising data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. The primary objective is to pinpoint vulnerable households that face a heightened risk of digital exclusion, enhancing the understanding of
Australian households and the affordability of telecommunications Read More »
The digital landscape has undergone a profound transformation in recent years, with the global broadband and cloud computing markets emerging as key pillars of the digital economy. Their combined worth exceeds an astounding $656 billion, but the real impact extends far beyond this impressive figure. Broadband and cloud computing are instrumental in shaping the future
Australia’s low ranking in broadband and cloud computing Read More »
On the day of the Optus Network Outage, I wrote an article with my initial assessment. I fine-tuned it in the following week and also used it for my submission to the Senate Inquiry into the Optus Network Outage. The outage on Wednesday, 8 November, sent shockwaves across the nation, prompting a deep dive into
Optus’s handling of the outage has left many with a bad taste in their mouths. Read More »
Committee Secretary Senate Standing Committees on Environment and Communications Parliament House Canberra Brisbane 16 November 2023 Submission Optus Network Outage – General Analysis of the Optus Network Outage Incident I have been closely monitoring the developments of the Optus network outage since the early hours of Wednesday, 8 November. In response to this incident, I
Submission to the Optus Network Outage Senate Inquiry Read More »
As foreshadowed in my previous articles the new National Broadband Network (NBN) wholesale agreements as have been under discussion for many years were approved by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). Under that agreement the NBN company is now able to increase it prices for its lower tier products, while at the same time
Predicted NBN prices increases are now a reality. Read More »
Addressing Telecom System Vulnerabilities to Prevent Widespread Outages The recent Optus outage cannot be considered a ‘rare occasion.’ Over the last few years, we have witnessed several major outages across the telecoms networks, making it imperative for us to prepare ourselves for such events. Today, over 99% of telecoms traffic comprises data. Virtually every organisation
Optus outage: We can’t afford to have a single point of failure in our telecoms system. Read More »
In an increasingly digital world, cyber threats are evolving at an alarming pace. Akamai Technologies, a prominent player in cybersecurity and content delivery services, has just released its latest State of the Internet (SOTI) Report,, titled “Ransomware on the Move: Exploitation Techniques and the Active Pursuit of Zero-Days.” This research delves deep into the world
Akamai’s latest report reveals disturbing trends in ransomware landscape. Read More »
After nearly three years of reporting on the troubled pricing policies of NBN Co, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has finally given its approval to a revised Special Access Undertaking (SAU) for the National Broadband Network (NBN). This decision ushers in a new era of NBN pricing and service standards. While the changes
New NBN pricing challenges and opportunities Read More »
The Government recently announced that the Australia’s payments system is set to undergo a radical transformation. One of the key changes in the plan is the phasing out of cheque payments. Cheques will be gradually wound down by 2030, with the removal of legislation and other requirements that currently support its use. The use of
Australians have massively adopted the digital payment systems. Read More »
Back in 2001 I launched the UtiliTel Project. This was before there were plans for the NBN. The electricity utility companies were looking at using their infrastructure to start building fibre optic networks. They established several companies around the country dedicated to the development of telecoms networks. However, by 2006, the focus from the utility
Lost decade of electricity policies could lead to shortage of electricity. Read More »
In recent communications with two esteemed colleagues, there has been a discussion on the potential for community-owned mobile networks to bridge the connectivity gap in remote areas, particularly in Australia. The central theme of these conversations revolves around the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of establishing such networks and the legal and licensing challenges that currently hinder
Ongoing obstacles to good quality, affordable broadband in remote Australia Read More »
In the digital age, where information and connectivity are paramount, the demand for data storage and processing is surging to unprecedented heights. As people and businesses increasingly rely on the internet, the need for efficient data centres has become more critical than ever. One of the negative outcomes of Australia’s lost decade in energy preparation
Optimising data centres: A quest for sustainable and secure infrastructure Read More »
It is clear that if we want to use AI for the good of society, we need to start providing guidelines, regulations, and most likely legislation around AI. The industry has been talking about this for many years, but governments have been slow to react. In general, governments are reactive rather than proactive when it
The importance of the European Union in the discussion of how to best safeguard AI Read More »
Last week NBN Co revealed its 2024 corporate plan, outlining its strategies to enhance its network capabilities and improve user experiences across Australia. While it provided valuable insights into NBN Co’s network upgrade initiatives and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts, they question remain as we have mentioned before, will the network be affordable. It
NBN gets finally upgraded but will services be affordable. Read More »
When TPG – Australia’s third-largest telecommunications company – released its half-yearly results, it became clear why the company had been keen to strike a deal with Telstra regarding infrastructure sharing. The company reported a 71% decrease in profits, down to $48 million, in comparison to the $167 million profit from the previous year. It is
TPG embarks on a major business transformation. Read More »
In a significant development for Australia’s broadband landscape, NBN Co and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) have reengaged in negotiations, following NBN Co’s submission of an amended Special Access Undertaking (SAU) Variation. This new proposal finally reflects a paradigm shift in wholesale pricing, aiming to bolster internet speeds, accommodate surging data demands, and
Will the new NBN proposal lead to better and more affordable broadband options? Read More »
Last month, I attended a lecture at the University of Queensland on “data capitalism.” The argument put forward by Oliver Lane-Porter was that “Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon are some of the largest and most powerful firms in the global economy. Their size, value, and the wealth of their founders raise serious concerns for distributive justice.
Data Capitalism and the Decolonisation of the Internet Read More »
In the past, we have explored the changing trends in the Australian digital infrastructure market, emphasising its growing significance in data centres, cloud computing, and data analytics, while also addressing climate change and supporting various industries. The recent restructuring of Telstra into three separate companies, with a focus on infrastructure, provided clear indicators of the
Macquarie Infrastructure – Vocus Eyeing TPG’s Infrastructure Assets Read More »
The National Broadband Network (NBN) was envisioned to bring Australia fast and affordable broadband services. However, the reality is quite different, as Australia’s global ranking in broadband speed has been steadily declining, and prices for broadband services continue to rise. In this opinion piece, telecommunication veterans John de Ridder and Bob James shed light on
The NBN legacy: rising prices and falling global rankings. Read More »
Telstra has once again made headlines with its announcement of a significant workforce reduction. The company revealed plans to cut approximately 500 jobs as part of its cost-cutting initiative, marking the first major round of redundancies under the leadership of CEO Vicki Brady. These measures are aligned with Telstra’s T25 strategy, aimed at streamlining operations,
Telstra’s Ongoing Transformation: Navigating Challenges and Embracing Opportunities Read More »
Over the last few months, I have written articles about 5G, 6G (2030s) and even 7G (2040s). In my research of these articles, I increasingly have come across the use of haptic technologies So I started to look into the relation between haptic technology and the new mobile technologies. Already 5G and even more so
The emergence of haptic technologies Read More »
As we all know it, because of the rising costs of energy, the power industry is one of the most important sectors in the economy. It is responsible for providing electricity to homes, businesses, and other critical infrastructure. However, the power industry is also facing a number of challenges, including rising demand, aging infrastructure, and
Blockchain in the Power Industry: another Energy Revolution Read More »
Gartner’s identified trends for cloud, data centre, and edge infrastructure in 2023 underline the importance of optimising existing infrastructure, embracing new architectures, adopting cloud principles on-premises, and prioritising sustainability. By staying abreast of these trends and effectively navigating economic and geopolitical challenges, organisations can position themselves for success in the rapidly evolving digital landscape. In
Gartner’s Top Trends for Cloud, Data Centre, and Edge Infrastructure in 2023 Read More »
Earlier this year I mentioned that in 2015 and 2020, I submitted recommendations for the Government’s Cyber Security Strategy. At the time, I argued that there was a serious lack of vision and strategy attached to the policy. A key element was that a range of knee-jerk decision were over the years piled upon each other
Cybercrime is global problem; Australia needs to fix its parochial approach. Read More »
SBS On the Money: Regional telco tie-up blocked & retail abuse laws introduced
SBS – Ricardo Gonçalves Read More »
As part of the ACCC industry consultation process, Telstra and Optus have again complained about NBN Co lack of service quality improvements in the wholesale broadband agreement (WBA). NBN Co has rejected all proposed improvements by Telstra and Optus, leading retail service providers (RSPs) to call for intervention by regulators and the government to raise
NBN Co fails to improve service conditions. Read More »
New Foxtel Service: Video Streaming Platform Foxtel is adding yet another service to its range of Pay TV and video streaming services. This time, they will introduce the Sky Glass smart TV service that was launched by its sister organisation, Sky UK, in 2021. The company has indicated that it will operate this service from
New Foxtel Service: Video Streaming Platform Read More »
LEOs are going to shake up the Australian telecoms market. As we have foreshadowed before Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellite Systems such as StarLink – but increasingly also others – are going to have a serious impact on the overall telecommunications landscape in Australia, especially in the regional and remote parts of the country. So,
LEOs are going to shake up the Australian telecoms market. Read More »
The “Beyond 5G/6G Era”: A New Era of 7G Wireless Communication The recent G7 Summit in Hiroshima witnessed an intriguing development in the telecoms industry as Japan proposed collaboration on technologies that lie on the horizon—what the Japanese have called “Beyond 5G/6G era.” While the current 5G cellular network is still in its nascent stages,
The “Beyond 5G/6G Era”: A New Era of 7G Wireless Communication Read More »
The ACCC will use seed funding from the budget to collaborate with other agencies to prepare for the establishment of a national anti-scams centre (NASC) in July, with the aim of preventing and mitigating the rising number of scams affecting Australians. The centre will use “cutting-edge technology” to share intelligence and distribute information to banks,
National anti-scams centre Read More »
Different industry tunes on the sharing of telecoms infrastructure. The Australian telecommunications industry has long been a source of contention between regulators, operators, and consumers. In recent years, the focus has been on increasing competition and improving coverage, especially in regional areas. Two recent speeches from industry leaders have highlighted the need for collaboration and
Different industry tunes on the sharing of telecoms infrastructure Read More »
The recently announced May Budget for 2023 in Australia has made various commitments to support the growth of critical technologies and industries. The government has allocated $101 million towards supporting critical technologies, including quantum and artificial intelligence. While this amount has been criticised by the tech community as being insufficient to encourage meaningful development, the
May Budget include many technology tools Read More »
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has been working with the government, the National Broadband Network (NBN) Co, and retail service providers (RSPs) to establish price and service standards that will govern the NBN’s operation; known as Special Access Undertaking – SAUs). The current process has been ongoing since early 2021, with the latest
The ongoing sage of NBN’s price and conditions rejections. Read More »
The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) has issued a new set of guidelines warning about the security risks posed by the use of 5G technology in so-called Smart Cities. The ASD’s concerns align with those of the Five Eyes security alliance, which has warned that the interconnected nature of a fully connected city makes it vulnerable
Smart Cities vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Read More »
Technology can assist in guiding us through our complex world but this will require an evolution in thought. I have recently joined a group of international people (mainly from the USA) who have formed a thinktank: Future of Thought Consortium. Based on their first meeting and the documentation provided I have started to formulate my
At regular intervals I have discussed the cybersecurity situation in Australia. In those assessments I wrote about my frustration that the previous government policies more or less resembled a fire brigade approach. Trying to address individual incidents with regulations and legislation, rather than coming up with a holistic strategy. I also reported earlier this year
Humans best defence against Cybersecurity Read More »
I use chatGPT now almost daily for my research. Basically background information that is not available through Wikipedia, Google, or other research facilities. The service only provides info that was available before 2021, so it is not at all useful for more recent developments. So in my case I am looking for what often is
Using AI for the good is very rewarding but keep an eye on the baddies. Read More »
ACMA recently published a paper titled: Terahertz use-cases and regulatory models information paper. The terahertz spectrum refers to frequencies in the range 100-400GHz, but the more practical range will be between 100-275GHz. This part of the electromagnetic spectrum lies between the microwave and infrared regions and has unique properties that make it attractive for various
Terahertz spectrum opening up the way for 6G Read More »
According to a survey conducted by the ANU’s Social Research Centre, online services have surpassed broadcast TV as the preferred way for Australian adults to watch screen content. The survey found that 66% of respondents had an online subscription service last year, up from 62% in 2021. Free video streaming services were the second most
Internet TV now larger than Broadcast TV Read More »
The NBN company announced that it will have to lay-off 500 people in order to lower their costs as they are facing increased competitive pressure from the other players in the market. It looks to me that this means that NBN Co forced to realise that by following the political winds and going ahead with
NBN Co faces consequences of wrong political infrastructure decisions. Read More »
Cybercrime has become one of the most serious criminal events over the last decade and its effects are a dangerous threat to governments, businesses, and individuals alike. Over coming years this is only going to increase, so decisive and coordinated action is overdue. It will only be a matter of time before we see major
Autonomous sensors are the bridge that connects the physical and digital worlds. A new team of CSIRO researchers are working on the next generation of sensor technologies needed to unlock digital innovations that allow us to rapidly understand and predict the world around us. Broadly, Autonomous Sensors will accelerate the emergence of new tools to
Autonomous sensors are looking over the horizon. Read More »
In February 2023 NBN Co released its first half-yearly result to December 2022. I will be looking behind the self-congratulations that took place. However, for the statistics, it has reported total revenue of $2.6 billion — a 4% increase on H1 FY22. None of that is unexpected; as the roll-out keeps going, new premises are
First half year 2022/2023 progress report from the NBN Company Read More »
If you think you’re smarter than your future phone, think again A discussion with international information and communications technology (ICT) colleagues recently on the dangers of our current highly technically-dominated world revealed that what we now see around us is a world composed almost exclusively of technology — which many of us find broken and
Does Technology requires a radical change? Read More »
I believe we have a problem with technical innovation. So, this week we will dig a bit deeper as the problem most likely is not technology. Recently, I attended an innovation masterclass from Griffith University presented by Professor Ingrid Burkett. She started by asking the question: “Will innovation save today’s business leaders?” This question was
We need to move innovation towards Impact Innovation Read More »
As I have mentioned before, things are not all going to plan for NBN Co. As the Minister for Communication, Michelle Rowland, has mentioned, this has more to do with the quality of the service than the technology. This is giving other providers a chance to compete with the NBN and there is a number
Tough times ahead for the NBN company Read More »
We have talked about artificial intelligence (AI) in previous articles. Recently, a new AI service was launched called ChatGPT. I have used it now several times and I am amazed at the accuracy of this AI tool. ChatGPT is a large language model developed by OpenAI. It is a variant of the Generative Pre-trained Transformer
The future of artificial intelligence — explained by chatGPT Read More »
There is an argument going on between the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and NBN Co in relation to the broadband requirements of Australian consumers. ACCC research indicates that by 2028, the median household speed requirement will be only 29 Mbps and 95% of households will not require speeds of 58 Mbps or more.
Growth in broadband demand is set to slow with fewer innovations hitting the market Read More »
Back in 2015 and 2016, I took a number of smart city initiatives aimed at lifting the issue of smart cities to the senior levels of the dozen or so councils I was working with. What had been the case in previous years was that the concept of smart cities (enhancing liveability, social structures and
Six cities in NSW are developing a smart integrated region. Read More »
While there is still a lot that needs fixing, going into the new year, the basis for the NBN is back on a much better foundation. Just before the end of last year, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland released an extensive Statement of Expectations for NBN Co. This basically brings the NBN policy back to its
NBN back to where it stared a project for the good of the nation Read More »
At the close of 2022, it has become clear that the financial markets are taking a deep breath and several steps back in the wake of the many problems in relation to digital systems. Both blockchain and cryptocurrencies are certainly not living up to their promise and this could set the digital financial market back
Trouble in the digital financial markets Read More »
As I had foreshadowed in previous opinion pieces on the Telstra – TPG merger, it was expected that the ACCC would block this. It was very obvious from the beginning that the merger was contra to the regulatory strategy that has been in place in Australia for over three decades. In my opinion Telstra played
Blocked Telstra – TPG merger will lead to an overhaul of Australian telecoms regulations Read More »
Recently I covered the Special Access Undertaking Variation that NBN Co presented to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The major news here was that this resulted in a $30 billion write-down of the losses that the NBN occurred during the rollout of its infrastructure. However, interestingly, its submission also included supporting documentation to
Better prices and services needed for NBN Co to stay competitive. Read More »
The previous Coalition Government under then Minister for Communication, Malcolm Turnbull, promised a cheaper, good-quality NBN that would be delivered faster. However, since it became clear that his Government was unable to deliver on this promise, I knew that eventually, something had to give. Instead of costing $25 billion as Mr Turnbull promised, the costs
NBN $31 bn write-down confirms its national importance Read More »
Australia’s oldest telecommunications society, TelSoc, organised a very interesting forum discussion with Anna Brakey, a commissioner and chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)’s communications committee and the most senior person in the ACCC in charge of telecommunications. In her presentation, Ms Brakey covered a variety of issues such as competition, the NBN,
Better NBN deals and better mobile competition Read More »
My colleague, Robert Smallwood in Geraldton, WA at the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (WA Government), has been testing Starlink now since March 2022 and he reports on his experience and in general, provides updates about Starlink and its mother company, SpaceX. He allowed me to use his report to write this article.
Starlink now covers all of Australia Read More »
TELE-ENERGY, or more accurately wireless power transfer, is a generic term for a number of different technologies for transmitting energy by means of electromagnetic fields. Wikipedia describes it as follows: ‘A transmitter device, driven by electric power from a power source, generates a time-varying electromagnetic field, which transmits power across space to a receiver device,
Tele-Energy Technology Read More »
Kanter’s recent Entertainment on Demand data on the Australian streaming market reveals that between July to September 2022, the number of Video on Demand (VoD)-enabled households that subscribed to at least one video streaming service fell by nearly 180,000, with over one million services cancelled. Furthermore, this third quarter of 2022 saw the largest drop
Video-on-Demand services are suffering from the economic downturn Read More »
There was not a lot of good news in this “extra” October Budget. And while I will concentrate on the I.T. side, I can’t help wondering why the Government was not brave enough to start looking at true reforms. A tax reform – along the lines that then Secretary of the Treasury Ken Henry suggested
Despite its austerity the Budget included a lot of IT investments. Read More »
While nearly two in three Australians are now only using their mobile to make telephone calls, close to a third don’t have a landline at all anymore. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) recently produced an extensive report on mobile use in Australia. While just over 70% of people still have a landline, the
Australians are loving their mobile phones Read More »
Earlier this year the Federal Government announced the’ South East Queensland (SEQ) City Deal’, With my interest in smart city developments I had a good look at this plan. This region hosts several of the leading smart city councils in Australia. Over the last decade or so I have been involved with smart city developments
The South East Queensland City Deal. Read More »
More and more information is becoming available about the breach of the Optus systems. It looks like the hacker is more of an amateur than a professional criminal or a “state actor”. This makes the hack even more worrisome. It looks as though Optus didn’t have its security house in order. This makes the issue
The hack will be a costly affair for Optus. Read More »
Approximately a decade ago, I wrote an article with a headline like this, however with the proviso that the mobile operators at that time would fight tooth and nail against its introduction. An eSIM is a form of programmable SIM card that is embedded directly into a device instead of a physical SIM that is
eSIMS are going to be a mobile gamechanger. Read More »
Paul Budde | Optus data breach should be a wake-up call for cyber security, privacy policies
Southern Coast Register Read More »
I did feel a bit of vindication when I read in the Weekend Australian the interview with outgoing Telstra CEO Andy Penn titled: ‘After the storm, Andy Penn ponders his legacy.’ A key point of regret was that he had not been more forthcoming with his criticism of the NBN as it developed during its
Andy Penn says sorry about not speaking out earlier against the NBN Read More »
From brain-computer interfaces to programmable materials, these are the trends that are going to change the world as we know it today. These defence technologies will have a profound impact on beyond the defence sectors, according to a recent report “Transforming Defence: six science and tech trends set to change the world’ from UK based
Transforming Defence: key trends that will change the world Read More »
Cyberhygiene requires critical thinking and protect privacy. At his farewell speech in August outgoing Telstra CEO Andy Penn mentioned that the cyber threat has never been as serious as present. He mentioned the deteriorating geopolitical situation as well as the big shift in the way that criminals operate in the cyber domain. One thing is
Cyberhygiene requires critical thinking and protect privacy. Read More »
The NASA-sponsored Artemis program is the first step in the next era of human exploration. Together with a large number of international government and academic partners as well as businesses – and based on international standards – NASA will establish a sustainable presence on the Moon. The aims of the programme are: demonstrate new technologies,
LunaNet – developing the internet for the Moon. Read More »
After the nuclear submarine debacle with France, political ties have been restored and both France and Australia have agreed further cooperation in the South Pacific, where France has several overseas territories. Also, here telecoms is a key issue. Such cooperation has become more urgent with the increased political interest of China in the region as
Telecoms development booming in the French Pacific Territories Read More »
Last year, we started an annual overview of the telecommunications developments in the South Pacific and this is the 2022 update that I have been able to piece together with the researchers at BuddeComm. Last week, we discussed the effect of geopolitics on the telecommunication submarine market in the South Pacific. As mentioned, the Australian
Fiji leading Pacific economy and its importance to Australia Read More »
Over the last few years, it has become clear that Australia and the Western countries, in general, have to become more serious about developments in the South Pacific. With China moving further and further into this region – based on rather different geopolitical international engagements – there is obvious anxiety about its policies for the
Telecommunications in the South Pacific is a security issue for Australia Read More »
As I have mentioned before, the only way to stop the rot is for the Government to intervene and address the financial situation of the NBN. This should result in a structural change to the NBN business model that allows it to truly become a national asset for all Australians, not just those who can
Minister asks NBN Co to withdraw its proposal for price increases Read More »
Over the years, I have regularly mentioned my involvement in smart cities. I have been involved in this for over a decade. It was obviously my background in the application of technology that had drawn me to this concept. And indeed, it was technology companies such as IBM and Cisco who were key players in
Smart cities with citizen assemblies could lead the way to better democracies. Read More »
Over the last 20 years, we have seen a dramatic change in the way we are using the TV. At the same time, the word “TV” has changed as well. It has split into two parts — the hardware and the content. On the hardware side, we have seen a further split with set-top boxes,
Users are in control of a disintegrated video-based entertainment market. Read More »
I would like to share an article written by my Dutch friend and colleague, Fred Kappetijn. In his younger years, the internet was a network of networks on which someone with a telephone connection, modem, PC, navigation and search program could visit places to find information, make transactions, exchange messages and entertainment. One of the
In a precious article I discussed the proposed merger between the mobile operations of TPG and Telstra. I also mentioned my support for domestic roaming in regional areas. For the last 20 years, I have consistently argued that it doesn’t make economic sense to overbuild infrastructure in most regional areas. As a result, Telstra remains
The need for a comprehensive mobile telecommunications review Read More »
It was interesting to note that NBN Co used its submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) regarding the proposed mobile infrastructure sharing arrangement between Telstra and TPG Telecom to ask the regulator for more protection against mobile competition. Under the ten-year Telstra-TPG regional Multi-Operator Core Network (MOCN) commercial agreement, TPG customers will
NBN Co wants the regulator to limit competition between NBN and mobile operators Read More »
For almost a decade, the Coalition failed to develop a national energy plan, even though such a plan existed before they took office. As energy is of national importance, a national policy, national rules and regulations are necessary. At the same time, we are facing massive changes in the energy sector. The states and the
Finally, smart energy is back on the national agenda Read More »
Back in the late 1990s and early ’00s when I discussed my vision on how broadband would develop, I mentioned that organisations would start offering free broadband access, linked to the core services of their organisation. The reason is that it would either be more cost-effective for those organisations if customers use the digital service.
Free NBN or discounted with Commonwealth Bank services. Read More »
There is never a dull moment in the Australian telecommunications industry. While on holiday in northwest Queensland, along the Gulf of Carpentaria, I was often still able to get a mobile signal from Telstra (Lawn Hill, Adels Grove, Gregory, Burk and Wills Roadhouse and Karumba, just to name a few rather remote places visited on
The latest Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) ‘NBN Wholesale Market Indicators Report’ shows the top three telcos (Telstra, TPG and Optus) have suffered a slight loss in customers, while smaller internet retailers have increased their customer numbers. Each one of them lost 0.3% market share and the new standings are now: Telstra 43.7%, TPG
Competition struggling, NBN not delivering Read More »
We have covered the government and opposition plans for the NBN in the past, but there is a commitment from the new Government to extend fibre deeper into the market. However, the real problem is the high costs of the NBN. This makes the wholesale prices higher and therefore also the retail price. As I
Central Banks across the world have been exploring the possibility of implementing a digital currency — Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC). A digital currency can provide a safer financial environment as it will enable individuals, private companies and several financial institutions to settle directly in central bank money rather than through bank deposits. Therefore, through
Bitcoin is progressing across the globe Read More »
Like so many telcos around the world, Telstra has been floundering through the video streaming market over the last few decades. It will be interesting to see if its acquisition of a 51% stake in the content aggregation company Fetch TV for $50 million will herald a new beginning. For the last 25 years plus,
Telstra buys into Fetch TV – will this shake-up the videostreaming market? Read More »
It is a bit expensive, but if you are the richest man in the world, you can afford $60 billion-plus to buy yourself a free speech outlet. This is just what prolific Twitterer Elon Musk has done. He was not happy with the way Twitter was managed and in the way it stops fake news
The new Twitter – free speech for Elon Musk Read More »
My colleague Pat Scannell asked me the other day to assist in reviewing his manuscript: ‘The Great Irony of Technology’. In this upcoming book, he mentioned an issue that really intrigued me — the “disruption of thought”. He makes the point that the rapid acceleration of technology exceeds the ability of any one person or
he Great Irony of Technology Read More »
Users across the country are complaining about the Sky Muster service. They complain about ongoing dropouts and diminishing download speeds. So, let’s look a bit deeper into these issues. At the start of the ’00s, it was envisaged that the country needed at least two satellites to deliver a good quality satellite service to people
What will the future of Sky Muster be? Read More »
One of my Dutch colleagues, Vincent Dekker, has specialised himself over the years in sustainable energy matters and with his interest in smart technologies, I have been following his articles with interest. His articles appear on the website of the Dutch newspaper, Trouw. Of course, when he included Australia in one of his articles, I
Dutch solar foil to turn Australia into a major hydrogen exporter Read More »
There were no indications that Andy Penn would retire as CEO of Telstra, but obviously, internally they have been working on this for some time. Telstra is really good at organising smooth internal CEO successions. It has an excellent pool of talented C-level people and there is no longer the ego element that, for example,
Telstra’s new CEO Vicki Brady – well positioned to face the challenges. Read More »
HE 2022 BUDGET has been characterised as a political budget and one that mainly consists of short-term policies and handouts, while what is needed are strategic long-term policies. Where is the national long-term vision for the country, linked with appropriate long-term policies? This applies across all the areas the Budget covers: wages, cost of living,
Further NBN discussions following the Budget announcement Read More »
With the election looming, money becomes available, especially for those projects that are drawing a lot of criticism to the Government and the NBN certainly is one of those areas. Predictably, the NBN is receiving a boost in the upcoming Budget. The Government has indicated that it will invest a further $480 million in the
Much needed boost for the NBN in regional areas Read More »
As we have been discussing in the past, Foxtel has been struggling and is continuing to struggle in the video streaming market. The rumour that Telstra is negotiating a majority share in Fetch could further undermine Foxtel, as Telstra still is a shareholder in this venture, be it at a much-reduced level. Its relationship with
Foxtel still struggling in the streaming market Read More »
Telstra might regret having signed a commercial deal with London based OneWeb as this company has now become a pawn in the war between Russia and Ukraine. Telstra agreed to host two OneWeb gateway Earth stations in Australia, one in the west and one in the north, which would also cover the APAC region, with
Telstra’s OneWeb deal caught up in the Russian war. Read More »
In a previous article I reported on the problems that Facebook (Meta) is facing — currently betting the house on its Meta service, based on a software platform that will create a virtual reality (VR) networked environment. I mentioned that I was critical about this business model and that I don’t see, at least for
The battles in the online video game streaming market are heating up Read More »
Over the last years, I have written many articles in which I argued that the high costs for building the NBN have at least partly to do with the party politics that have been pursued by the Government. As soon as Tony Abbott announced that the NBN should be killed, the issue became political and
Government advised to accept ‘sunk’ NBN costs Read More »
In the running up to the company’s six-month financial announcement, NBN Co indicated that it would start in April rolling out its latest rebate campaigns — under the themes “Step Up” and “Light Up”. They aim to attract new connections and migrate existing users from low to mid-level speeds. The offers are again only temporary
NBN Co’s financial worries are still not over Read More »
It was all over the news, so I am sure you have seen the dramatic beating that Facebook received at the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street. Facebook parent company Meta slumped more than 26 per cent, erasing more than U.S.$237 billion (AU$332 billion) in market value, the largest one-day drop in history, also
Are we seeing the slow demise of Facebook? Read More »
I have mentioned before my astute group of international colleagues with whom I have ongoing discussions about the many different social, economic and political issues in relation to technology. I regularly report on some of the interesting conversations we are having. I have mentioned Dr David Bray before, the Executive Director for the bipartisan Commission
How humans employ technologies to work, govern, and co-exist Read More »
We do live in turbulent times. There is such a lot happening, with many people feeling overwhelmed and lost. One of the reasons given why we do have these problems is technology. I would argue against that. In all reality, technology is a tool that we can use and yes, we all know that we
Is technology the problem? Read More »
The Year 2038 Problem relates to representing time in many digital systems as the number of seconds passed since 00:00:00 UTC on 1 January 1970 and storing it as a signed 32-bit integer. Such implementations cannot encode times after 03:14:07 UTC on 19 January 2038. At that time, systems might crash and will be unable
The Year 2038 computer problem – a repeat of Y2K? Read More »
Last year, I reported on the possibility that LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellite-based systems might be a gamechanger for the delivery of high-speed data services, including internet access, to people in regional and remote Australia. What has become clear with the rollout of the NBN is that the quality of data connections in metropolitan cities
Australian farms get connected to the Starlink satellites Read More »
Of course, let me begin by wishing you a good start to the new year. It will be an interesting year in many aspects and it remains a year of high levels of uncertainty, so it is important to stay flexible. As always, the year will provide many “wow” moments in relation to technology, but
My telecoms and digital economy predictions for 2020 Read More »
I have mentioned my friend and colleague Fred Kappetijn before. We regularly look at bigger issues and one of these has been the role of information in our universe. This might be an article you might want to ponder about over the Christmas break This is not your usual way of discussing information. This goes
Is information a fundamental part nature? Read More »
There has again been a lot of discussion about the NBN in recent weeks. As we already discussed, there was the announcement by the Labor Party and in a separate development, The Guardian reported the cost blow outs of the NBN under the Coalition Government. In my analysis of the Labor plan, I mentioned that
Would it have been better if Abbott had killed the NBN? Read More »
For decades, we have been arguing about poor telecommunications for people that are living in regional Australia and in many cases, this includes the fringes of the metropolitan cities as well. Let’s first discuss the broadband network before we address the mobile networks. This issue started to become more prevalent in the mid-to-late 1990s when
Regional telecommunications services are simply not good enough Read More »
A few month ago, I mentioned that China’s social code will also be expanded to companies who want to deal with China. I have come across information that shows that China is indeed serious about this. China’s cyberspace regulator has proposed requiring companies pursuing share listings in Hong Kong to apply for cybersecurity inspections if
China using cyber technologies to expand their political cloud Read More »
A recent revelation published in The Guardian shows that the NBN is much more expensive than what the Coalition let us believe in 2013. The beginnings of the NBN date back to the Howard Government with Kevin Rudd in the Opposition seat. Around 2005, both Parties agreed that extra money was needed to ensure that
The NBN remains a political football Read More »
It seems Labor has bitten the bullet and decided that to have an overall better quality NBN, more money is needed to upgrade the Fibre-to-the-Node (FttN) to full-fibre. While the Government has indicated that the next stage of the NBN needs to be financed by NBN Co through private debt, Labor believes that this will
Labor’s NBN plan full fibre NBN will reach 8 million households Read More »
A few weeks ago, I talked about Facebook’s Metaverse and the issues that I have with this service, in a regulatory vacuum. I hope we have learned our lessons with the current way social media have developed and that we are making sure we are not going to use new developments in these media purely
Cirque de Solei explores the new options of VR and holoportation. Read More »
We had a very interesting presentation and discussion regarding the topic of interplanetary internet with my international colleagues of which Vint Cerf – one of the “fathers of the internet” – is also a member. As a partner of the Interplanetary Networking Special Interest Group (IPNSIG), he took us on a journey that he has
Interplanetary Internet Read More »
Telstra is partnering with the Australian Government in a deal that sees the telecoms company acquire the mobile business of Digicel South Pacific for U.S.$1.6 billion (AU$2.14 billion), plus an additional U.S.$250 million (AU$333 million) depending on how the business fares over the next three years. The Government has committed to pay U.S.$1.33 billion (AU$1.73
Telstra’s Digicel South Pacific buy is politically motivated Read More »
Over the last few years, I have written various articles about smart cities and I have reported on several of them during my international smart city expedition in 2018. Moving three years forward, COVID-19 has had a positive and a negative effect on the development of smart cities. On the positive side, the awareness of
Using smart cities to build bastions to protect democracy Read More »
Around 2005, in the days when we started to prepare for building the NBN, we had a special workgroup working on telehealth. At that time, we also discussed this with health professionals and asked them which areas of healthcare would benefit the most from the use of the new digital media. The professionals’ answers to
Telehealth and Mental Health Read More »
Facebook’s founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg launched his metaverse vision for Facebook beyond it being a social media outlet. He envisages an augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR) internet in which we all can immerse and do things basically as virtual beings. In his vision, we will all soon be wearing VR goggles and
Zuckerberg’s Metaverse hype, reality or does it just suck. Read More »
In 2002, computer scientist, physicist and businessman Stephen Wolfram published his book, A New Kind of Science. Rather than looking at mathematics as the solution to unravel the mysteries of the world and the universe, Wolfram looked at how systems work and concluded that they do follow certain patterns to eventually create a particular outcome.
How AI and a systems approach can be used to better understand our world Read More »
In September 2021, Telstra CEO Andy Penn revealed the company’s plan for the next four years, unveiling T25 — the next tranche of T22, which is part of an ongoing transformation of the telco. This is the company’s strategic program aimed at leading the Australian telecommunications market by simplifying its operations and product set, improving
Unveiling T25, Telstra’s vision of its future. Read More »
Around 20 years ago, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) in the USA allocated 75 MHz (5.85-5.925 GHz) to Intelligent Transportation Systems. This led to the dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) standard, 802.11p, which is a tweak of 802.11a. Approximately zero cars adopted it. There were demo projects and some roadside units were built, but it never
C-V2X standard for autonomous vehicle services Read More »
Rather conveniently, NBN Co has removed all forward financial projections beyond the next 12 months in its Corporate Plan for 2022, released last week. As I also mentioned when the Government released its financial results a few weeks ago, understanding how the company is really performing remains rather murky. The new corporate plan only adds
Government want NBN Co to focus on the money. Read More »
High-speed fibre overtakes DSL as OECD countries add 21 million fixed broadband connections in pandemic year High-speed fibre Internet subscriptions surpassed copper-wire DSL connections across OECD countries for the first time in 2020 as the need to move work and home life activities online during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a record 21.15 million new
Global developments in broadband Read More »
By Ben Grubb in InnovationAus In 2008, Professor Coutts was appointed by then-communications minister Stephen Conroy as one of six members of a panel of experts to assess proposals to build the NBN and to advise the government on the awarding of a $4.7 billion contract to part-fund its construction. The panel eventually rejected all
Vale Professor Reg Coutts Read More »
Over the last few decades of an increasingly well-connected world, the use of data to assist us in managing the many complex issues that we as a global society are facing has become more and more important. We have seen this in the IPCC report on climate change, which uses massive amounts of data that
Satellite another tool in the fight against Covid Read More »
In August, NBN Co announced its financial results for the financial year ending 30 June 2021. It showed that it had activated 8.2 million customers. Interestingly they mentioned that this was on target — returning $4.6 billion of revenues and an improved net loss of $3.8 billion. But as I have also mentioned in previous
NBN hits a financial target that has been revised downwards several times Read More »
Last year I reported on the success of telehealth. I can now tell that the service will be permanent feature of the medical service in Australia. People including myself have been arguing for this for more than 15 years, but it required a crisis such as Covid to see it implemented and becoming a key
Success of Telehealth in Australia in glowing numbers Read More »
It was on the cards. For weeks, Jack Ma, the digital tycoon of China, founder of Ant and of e-commerce giant Alibaba (the Chinese Amazon), disappeared off the radar after he was summoned by the Chinese Government and most likely lectured on the fact that his company was out of step with official Chinese policy.
Massive changes to the Chinese tech industry. Read More »
In a surprise move, the Commonwealth Bank took a 25% stake in two of the NBN Retail Service Providers (RSPs): More Telecom and Tangerine. As electronic banking is growing exponentially, the bank wants to become more involved in the telecoms market which is key in providing access to such services. As Australia has one of
Back to the future with FttH and finally mobile roaming is on the cards. Read More »
The Australian Government together with Telstra have made a $2 billion offer for the Digicel telco assets in the South Pacific. The Irish company is one of the largest mobile operators in island nations in both the Caribbean and the South Pacific. It is facing financial difficulties because of the drop in revenues from tourists
Broadband Developments in the South Pacific Read More »
The reason why I am asking about our mobile market competitiveness is the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) recently argued that because the courts allowed the merger between Vodafone and TPG, the market has become less competitive. The ACCC had argued against the merger but lost that case. It is not easy to give
Is our mobile market competitive? Read More »
For those involved in technology from a government and industry perspective, as well as from a user’s point of view, we all have a responsibility to monitor developments in this space to ensure they’re utilised for the benefit of society. I have addressed this in a few previous articles but would like to come back
Using technologies for the good of all. Read More »
We have covered several articles about the potential of 5G being a competitor to the NBN. I have always downplayed this but have also indicated that there certainly are new niche market opportunities of 5G. However, these will be incremental, and its main development is simply replacing 4G, as it offers significant network efficiencies for
Will 5G be a game changer or simply a 4G upgrade. Read More »
While the NBN Co’s discussion paper on its special access undertaking variation is to be welcomed, the question remains whether this really is going to make true high-speed broadband more affordable. On several occasions, we have discussed the contentious wholesale pricing regime and, in particular, a charge known as the connectivity virtual circuit (CVC), which
New NBN proposal smoke and mirrors, no real reform. Read More »
Recently, IT was reported that a new Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Commissioner, Anna Brakey, said: We have got an opportunity to have a look at the regulatory framework and to make sure, that we efficiently use the NBN. If we set prices too low, there would be overuse of the NBN. And as
The ACCC is worried we will use the NBN too much. Read More »
We have had former Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s “kill the NBN” policy, Scott Morrison bringing a lump of coal into the Parliament and then-Small Business Minister Michaelia Cash tried to scare Australian ute drivers by proclaiming they would be obliterated by electric vehicles (EVs). Scott Morrison also questioned the need for big batteries, which he
Also, with electric vehicles Australia is trailing the world. Read More »
Recently, I visited the Northern Territory. Apart from the occasional business meeting in Darwin, this was my third trip to this amazing part of Australia. I first spent time here in 1988, when I lived for two weeks with the Angatja people in Amata, approximately 100 kilometres south of Uluru. My second trip some 10
Challenging telecoms conditions for the Northern Territory Read More »
There is never a dull moment in the NBN saga, with the following happening over the last few weeks: NBN executives paid themselves $77 million in bonuses; construction staff went on strike as they missed out on proper payments and are also frustrated with the inefficiencies of the rollout activities; NBN Co announced it will
NBN faces new problems but executives paid bonusses Read More »
NBN Co has released its plans for the 2021 pricing review consultation process. It is seeking retail service provider (RSP) and broader industry feedback on current and future matters of NBN wholesale pricing. However, in its outline of what will be reviewed, it became clear that the key issues are not on the discussion list.
Enough is enough ACCC will become involved in the NBN monopoly. Read More »
The new Biden Administration in the USA laid out a $100 billion proposal for broadband investment as part of its $2 trillion+ infrastructure plan. Under the proposal, the plan is to provide national broadband coverage. The Administration will use better competition measures, such a price transparency, the use of public utility infrastructure and subsidies for
$100 billion national broadband plan for America. Read More »
The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has indicated that the electricity grid is struggling to cope with the changing power landscape, which is generating more solar energy than ever before. It has also flagged therefore that Australians with rooftop solar panels could soon be charged for exporting electricity to the grid. This is, of course,
Australians are going to pay for a failed national energy policy. Read More »
Late last year I wrote an article on e-agriculture activities based on my trip into outback Queensland Agriculture ICT and travelling in Outback Queensland. I received this follow up from Tom Andrews from Connected Farms. I recall that last October you did an excellent article about the importance of connectivity for the Australian farming sector
We see the problems that we are facing within an increasingly digital society and economy. We cannot go backwards; the only way forward is to ensure that this new digital environment is made as safe as possible from a personal, social, political and economic perspective. We are currently struggling on these fronts. Unfortunately, we have
Cybersecurity, an essential weapon in the cyberwarfare to protect our democracy. Read More »
For more than a decade – dating back to the original NBN plan from the Labor Government – the retail service providers (RSPs) have argued against the unpredictable variable elements in its wholesale charges (the so-called connectivity virtual charges or CVCs). We have covered this at length in previous articles going back at least to
Broadband users are going to pay for failed NBN policies. Read More »
We are getting closer to using alternative broadband solutions, offered by international companies. Local telecommunication entities will in this respect be relegated to resellers. The reality of accessing low Earth orbiting satellite (LEO) services is now clearly on the horizon. Most of the telcos as well as governments are not prepared for the potential shock
Are the LEOs going to disrupt the telco market? Read More »
Telstra is finalising its restructuring that we discussed in previous articles here and here. With the restructuring, it very much looks like the focus will shift towards infrastructure rather than digital services — that battle might have been lost. While the Telstra restructuring is heralded as a good move, it is important to put this
Telstra restructuring too little too late? Read More »
The current pandemic, but also the previous Great Financial Crisis as well as an increase in more severe climatological events such as bushfires and floods, are all clear indications that we cannot just continue managing our society and our economy as usual. If one thing is becoming clear, we cannot go back to “normal” as
The digital transformation of the Australian economy Read More »
During the past two decade, there have been considerable efforts undertaken by governments and national telecom regulators to ensure that their countries’ economic growth is underpinned by capable broadband infrastructure. The success of national policies has been variable, but the scale of investment and the way the development of fibre infrastructure has been encouraged has
Australian fixed broadband in the international context. Read More »
It is astonishing to look at the technological developments over the last 50 years, but even more so in the last ten years. Humans have always evolved with the assistance of tools, but in the past some of these developments took millennia or centuries to develop. For most people, let us say until the Middle
Technology – a tool to increase our processes of thought and cognition Read More »
Recently TPG announced its full-year results. Like many others in the industry, the company saw a decline in profits and like others, TPG also claimed that on COVID-19. But under the motto “never waste a good crisis”, TPG has come up with a plan to save costs. As I have mentioned time and time again,
NBN too expensive, TPG wants to move customers. Read More »
Over the last few weeks, we have seen several new announcements from NBN Co. The key announcements include: A payment of $3 billion to the Government as a repayment of their $19.5 billion investment; An extra 100,000 fibre-to-the-node (FttN) premises will be upgraded to fibre-to-the-premise (FttP) infrastructure; and A complex review of their already complex
NBN wants us to pay more for their broadband service. Read More »
After some turmoil, Facebook won the war with the Australian Government as the necessary changes were made to the legislation that avoids them needing to make changes to their business model. Those subtleties are lost in the general press. What counts for the popular media is that they were able to spin some great stories
Facebook stays, everybody is happy but nothing has changed Read More »
A few months ago, I reported on the broader market of which telecommunications infrastructure is a part. I mentioned data centres, cloud computing and data analytics (big data). All together we can perhaps best call this digital infrastructure. While the importance of this merged set of infrastructures will benefit all economies and societies, I recently
Macquarie Group is set to shake up the digital infrastructure market. Read More »
The signs are that the Australian Government and Google are close to a compromise. The main demands made by the Government stay in place, but some of the details will be changed. This allows the Government to claim victory, while the damage to Google will be limited. See also my earlier blog on this topic:
Google set to survive in Oz, but far bigger threats are on the way. Read More »
Following the American insurrection and the role the media played – social media, in particular – “doomsday scenario” started to appear again in relation to technological developments. Only a few years ago, a group of hi-tech companies including Tesla warned against the negative aspects of artificial intelligence (AI). Other technologies that could have a serious
Technology: doomsday or godsend – the choice is ours. Read More »
We have seen that Mel Silva, Google Australia’s Managing Director, threatening to shut down its search engine in Australia if a proposed law requiring tech giants to pay publishers for news isn’t changed. The most controversial issue is that it would have to pay publishers for links to news articles that appear in search results.
Google vs. Australia – the war is on. Read More »
While 2021 will remain a year with lots of uncertainties, at the same we can say that the pandemic has not affected the information and communications technology (ICT) industry in any significant way. Yes, there has been a slowdown, for example, in the sale of smartphones. Shortages in both materials and expertise are slowing the
What will 2021 have install for the ICT industry? Read More »
With Trump gone, will the USA (and for that matter any other western nation facing political polarisation) be able to make structural changes to address the underlaying problems. Will Covid-19 be a catalyst in this process or perhaps the American insurrection? If we look at the western democracies than America is facing much deeper problems
What is next for America – and the rest of the democratic world. Read More »
The digital market has matured over the last 20 years and it is no longer an excuse for governments to do nothing with the aim to let new markets and innovations emerge without immediate regulatory oversight. It has become clear this period is now well and truly over. The European Commission has already launched several
Can we control the digital platforms? Read More »
It’s interesting to compare the major economic models in the Western world: the Anglo-Saxon model, the Rhineland model and the Scandinavian model. The Anglo-Saxon model is very much driven by small government, market-driven economic and social policies, and in general, has a large focus on shareholders’ value. By contrast, the other two models operate more
Rhineland economic model is closest to smart city developments Read More »
It was astonishing to hear the news the Federal Government has set up the Regional Digital Tech Hub as part of their $220 million Stronger Digital Connect Package. It seemed like it would be great an infrastructure hub. But no it is just another website and a set of new brochures. Over the last 15
Another brochure to cover up NBN failings Read More »
In the mid to late 2000s, I set up the industry association Smart Grid Australia (SGA). The reason why I became involved in the smart energy sector was that earlier that decade I had established the industry group UtiliTel. At that time, Telstra was reluctant to go even beyond the integrated services digital network (ISDN)
Massive renewable energy projects underpinned by ICT technologies Read More »
Over the last few weeks I have reported on the restructuring of Telstra. The proposed restructuring is exciting new challenge for the company. It will now all depend on the direction the execution will take. This is the third significant opportunity for Telstra to reinvent itself. The first time was in the late 1990s when
Will it be third time lucky for Telstra? Read More »
A recent session of the Australian Computer Society (ACS) and the Australian Smart Communities Association (ASCA) masterclass on 5G, featured Dr Ian Oppermann, the NSW Government’s Chief Data Scientist and one of the country’s most respected experts in radio technology. Ian is also the Chair of the scientific advisory board of the 6G Flagship organisation,
What will 6G look like in a geopolitical divided world Read More »
For decades, we have basically been conditioned to look at the telecoms market based on the regulatory arrangements that exist around it. The Postmaster-General’s Department (PMG) which became Telecom Australia was a state-owned business that had the monopoly on all telecoms services and was mainly paid for by taxpayers. The market was opened in the
The break-up of Telstra: Interesting potential new telecoms scenarios. Read More »
It was interesting to see that, albeit belatedly, the American media started to stop giving Trump opportunities to spew out his lies across the country and beyond. It obviously had now reached a point where the media realised that if they would continue to provide Trump with their avenues that this would make them accomplices
Disinformation and our technology industries Read More »
It has taken a long time but it is good to see that Telstra has finally recognised that a significant part of its business is infrastructure. The business model of infrastructure is rather different from that of services. Infrastructure will not necessarily achieve high short-term returns but it will deliver long term very steady returns
Will Infra Co be gamechanger in the telecoms market? Read More »
Developments in telecommunications and technology are key to creating more liveable regional centres. At the recent CommsDay Summit, two interesting Low Earth Orbiting Satellites (LEOsat) services were mentioned. . A few months ago I wrote an extensive article on this subject., which provides some global background information on these satellite development. At the conference, Michael
Smart Regional Towns – Game changers for reginal and rural Australia Read More »
Over the last year, we have discussed the unsustainably high wholesale charges that NBN Co is raking in. They need this just to recoup the blowout of the investments in their second-rate multi-technology mix (MtM) infrastructure. The Government, following its election win in 2013, handpicked a new NBN team. They were favourable to their policies,
Government backed NBN monopoly is flexing its muscles Read More »
It came as a surprise to many in the telecoms industry as well as in the legal profession that the Government issued a Statement of Expectation (SoE) to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). In my opinion, what this means is that the Government would like the ACCC to facilitate NBN Co to increase
NBN battle between the ACCC and the Government Read More »
In October 2020, I went on a two-week tour into Queensland’s Outback, travelling through various landscapes from pastoral and agricultural lands to savanna and the desert. Leaving Brisbane, past Toowoomba you enter the Darling Downs. This is one of the richest agricultural areas in Australia. It was first explored by British Botanist Alan Cunningham in
Agriculture ICT and travelling in Outback Queensland Read More »
Former AAP Telecommunications executive Brian Perkins has died in Sydney, aged 88. Brian was my mentor in the telecoms industry during the 1990s. I have very fond memories of him, most importantly as a person. He generously shared his understanding of the industry and the many contacts he was able to build up during that
Vale Brian Perkins Read More »
There has been an enormous amount of discussion on the damage that social media is causing on a global scale. While there is no indication that the companies who started these services had any evil act in mind – quite to the contrary – the social media have opened Pandora’s box. The technology itself is
The existential dangers of social media Read More »
With 5G earmarked as a game-changer for cities, wireless technologies are already widely deployed by Australia’s leading smart cities. However, cities do not want to be locked into proprietary technology solutions, rather seeing themselves as a platform on which many organisations can build infrastructure, applications and services for the benefit of all citizens and all
Smart cities want to co-design change with Telcos Read More »
When I became involved in the telecoms industry back in the late 1970s, we were just seeing fibre optic cables being commercially developed by Corning. Over the following decades, I have been asked many, many times — do we need fibre cables or wireless technologies and what is next? During all that time, my answer
Is laser going to be the next telecoms frontier? Read More »
It is great to see that the Government is finally backflipping on its denial on fibre optic networks. It has announced a $3.5 billion plan to bring fibre deeper into the neighbourhoods. The overall costs of a full upgrade have been estimated at around $16 billion. What the Government plans to do is to bring
Reversal of broadband fibre policies Read More »
Over the last five years, I have seen from close the city of Newcastle moving towards becoming a smart city. Most certainly, the phrase “smart city” is a rather nebulous one, but it basically means utilising new technologies to enable communities to build a city that delivers more and better social and economic outcomes for
Newcastle: Australia’s leading smart city Read More »
I recently followed a webinar session organised by the University of Queensland on the factory of the future. Smart or not, the future will still need factories to make the stuff we humans use every day. One of the questions that were discussed included: “how will existing production models cope with the staggering and ongoing
The importance of the emerging Data Trusts Read More »
As I mentioned in a previous article, I chaired three masterclasses on 5G. It is always great to listen to experts who I trust as they provide important input in the knowledge I need to obtain for that higher level of insight I need to put a range of technical and business issues together in
5G will not be the panacea for all our communication needs Read More »
There are many healthcare needs that can only be successfully addressed in face-to-face visits with health practitioners. It is necessary to see a medical practitioner when we need to discuss private health issues in detail, to canvass different health or treatment options and to assess our health. Having said this, there are many other situations
The incredible telehealth transformation Read More »
In a reversal of events, Telstra, being the former telecoms monopoly, is trying to take on NBN Co, the monopoly that displaced it. I am sure that many of you still remember the enormous battles that took place in the 1990s and early 2000s between Telstra on one side and the rest of the industry,
Telstra is going on to take the NBN monopoly Read More »
Later this month, I will be sharing three masterclasses organised by the Australian Smart Communities Association (ASCA) and the Australian Computer Society (ASC) on the potential of using 5G as an infrastructure solution for smart cities. Just to make sure, I am doing this pro bono so no financial gain or otherwise for me. What
Smart Cities moving into 5G Read More »
Early at the start of the pandemic, the Government allowed NBN Co to make 40 per cent more capacity available without an extra charge for this. This, of course, was widely welcomed by both the industry and the users. The core of the problem, however, is that this capacity is not available in a “normal
Call for an NBN user revolt Read More »
As with any large-scale project, you need a long-term vision on the investment that you are going to make. Once that vision is agreed upon, solid strategies need to be developed. Next is a careful design to ensure that what you have designed will work in practice. Only then are you going to start with
The government dug its own NBN hole, how to get out of it? Read More »
The pandemic has shown us that some of the early models in the so-called sharing economy have become more mainstream. The early pioneers were companies such as Uber, Airbnb, eBay and Gumtree. But others have been making a name for themselves in transport, for example, Shebah (all-female drivers) and Camplify (caravan sharing and RCs). Spacer,
The digital economy is spreading out more broadly. Read More »
Are we building a mediocre NBN for the average user? Interesting new research conducted by the Bureau of Communications and Arts Research predicts that average Australian data consumption is set to quadruple by 2028, based on figures from 2018. But they also predict that peak bandwidth will grow less rapidly. In their words: ‘Bandwidth requirements
Are we building a mediocre NBN for the ‘average user’? Read More »
While there are plenty of opportunities for local councils to create cost savings – especially by cutting through their internal silos and using ICT and infrastructure technologies on a sharing basis across the various city systems – the problem remains that before these cost savings can be made, significant ICT investments are needed. The reality
City-as-a-service – new business and investment model Read More »
There certainly is a lot of interest in machine-to-machine communication (M2M) and the internet of things (IoT). But what we are seeing is only what is happening on the surface. Most of the M2M activities are taking place unnoticed. For example, most newly produced electronic devices are now all M2M enabled. Over 100 million smart
Internet of Things requires a rethink of business models. Read More »
I recently followed a “lunch box lecture”, organised by the University of Sydney. In the talk, Professor Zdenka Kuncic explored the very topical issue of artificial intelligence. The world is infatuated with artificial intelligence (AI), and understandably so, given its super-human ability to find patterns in big data as we all notice when using Google,
Nano networks set to revolutionise edge computing Read More »
When the Coalition Government scrapped the fibre to the home (FTTH) project, the then-Minister for Communication, Malcolm Turnbull, proclaimed that we would build his newly concocted multi-technology mix version of the NBN for $25 million and that it would be ready by 2016. Since then, the roll-out target was changed several times to finally fit
The NBN is finished so what’s next? Read More »
As the initiator of Smart Energy Australia in 2007, I looked with the experts of this industry association at how we could use technologies to make our energy system more efficient, cheaper, and less polluting. Of course, this included the arrival of renewable energy and technology developments in areas such as microgrids, distributed energy and
New push for cheaper energy costs and a much more efficient energy industry. Read More »
My brother Rob lives in Rimini, Italy and he has his own company Màgina, involved in “tailor-made” events for large organisations throughout Europe. Their activities include team building, product launches, client shows and so on. Of course, with COVID-19 his business totally collapsed overnight. A few clients have indicated that they will review the situation
Innovative entertainment industry will bounce forwards after Covid Read More »
The following article is based on a blog written by my Dutch colleague Fred Kappetijn. We have worked together to present this to you. Every second, 4.5 billion people using computers and other electronic devices send 100,000 gigabytes of information to each other. Around 60% of the world’s population has an internet connection. North America
Back in the early 1990s, I was a founding board member of Service Providers Action Network (SPAN), which later became part of Communications Alliance. The key aim of this organisation was the promotion of new value-added services that could be provided over the telecommunications network. At this time there was no public internet and we
Digital economy essential for regional Australia Read More »
Moreton Bay Regional Council in South-East Queensland is one of the smart cities that is part of the Global Smart Community and City Alliance (GSC3). In all, some 25 cities formed part of this Alliance, which is no longer active. It is amazing to see the progress that Moreton Bay has made over the last
Smart City Moreton Bay Read More »
During this coronavirus crisis, it is great to see that our politicians are now respecting the medical scientists and professionals and are working very closely with them. Will our politicians now also listen to the experts in the other major problems that are facing us such as climate change, renewable energy, water management and so
We need professionals to design the digital infrastructure in the post corona era Read More »
The world we live in has reached a critical juncture. We are faced with many challenges and the decisions we will now make will define our future. The recent bushfires in Australia and the global coronavirus pandemic are bringing the message very close to home. These developments should be enough to seriously start looking at
The problem is not technology but politicians and their ideology Read More »
Adelaide was one of the first cities to build a gigabit fibre optic network but soon others followed. Newcastle, Wollongong, Launceston and the NSW Central Coast Council are now all developing their own gigabit infrastructure. Now, the NSW Government is putting $100 million dollars aside for the provision of “innovative systems” to improve the price,
Building independent Gig Cities: this happens when you have a 2nd rate NBN Read More »
For me, the reason to download the COVIDSafe app is that my personal risk of not using it is greater than the risk of the possible misuse of my data. From a technical and legal point, I am satisfied that the app is as safe as you can expect from any technology. If you are
COVIDSafe risk assessment personal data vs your risk regarding the virus Read More »
Philosophers involved in the theories of post-humanism and trans-humanism are captivated by the possibilities, or dangers, that the future poses to our understanding of human life. According to Wikipedia,, the idea of the post-human originates in the fields of science fiction, futurology, contemporary art and philosophy that literally refers to a person or entity that
Technologies for the post-humans Read More »
The results a study conducted by the Pew Research Centre stated: About half of those surveyed predict that humans’ use of technology will weaken democracy between now and 2030 due to the speed and scope of reality distortion, the decline of journalism and the impact of surveillance capitalism. A third expect technology to strengthen democracy
Will technology destroy our democracy? Read More »
The players in the telecommunications industry have decisively reacted to the COVID-19 crisis. The NBN is holding up and the company is effectively implementing a range of measures for those who rely on it. Equally, the support from the major telcos and the digital players has been first-class and, where needed, the industry is working
Encouraging online lessons from the corona crisis Read More »
Over the last 20 years most of the western world moved into what has become known as a neoliberal political system. Basically, get the government as much as possible out of the market and let the economy be run by the market. This has resulted in large scale privatisations, ongoing budget cuts basically across all
The enormous economic costs of the pandemic – How did we end up in this mess? Read More »
Over the last few years, cybersecurity has been a hotly debated issue in Australia. There have been serious clashes over the heavy-handedness of the Australian Government and the industry and community fighting against the attacks on press freedom, demanding protection of journalists, protecting civil liberties and the openness and transparency of our democratic institutions. Let’s
Climate change, pandemic, terrorism and cybersecurity Read More »
For those people who have been advocating social and economic changes for the last few decades, to a certain extent it looks like all our Christmases are arriving at once. Issues we have been lobbying for, for decades are now suddenly being addressed within days and weeks. Obviously, I don’t want to ignore the severity
Sustaining social and economic transformation beyond the crisis. Read More »
I started writing this on the 29th of March 2020. Roughly two months after the outbreak started in all seriousness in Wuhan, China. Obviously from the start it was hot news. The initial information was confusing, especially as the infamous Chinese bureaucracy – on automatic pilot – immediately started to suppress any information on the
Corona crisis – Update from Australia – April 1 Read More »
Is this the crisis we need to have to face the reality that, over the last 30 years or so, we might have taken a wrong turn in our society and our economy? Under neoliberal policies, the trend has been to leave as much as possible to the market to solve our problems and reduce
The COVID-19 Commission and the NBN Read More »
In a previous blog I addressed the issue of teleworking and e-health application in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. I also mentioned the impact that this will have on our telecommunications networks. This time I would like to go a little bit deeper into this. It is a no-brainer to predict that when schools
Will the NBN stand up in the Covid-19 pandemic? Read More »
This is a bit of deja vu for me. In the 1990s, I received a lot of media attention because of the arrival of broadband networks in the promotion of telecommuting. After very little or no interest in teleworking over the last decade, I am suddenly asked again to comment on teleworking as it gets
Telecommuting and Covid-19 Read More »
Back in the early 2000s when the apartment complex where we are currently living was built, Telstra installed a coax cable in the complex together with the ordinary copper cable. The Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) cable allowed Telstra to offer better broadband services and Foxtel to deliver its proprietary pay-TV service. There is now turmoil
The end of Foxtel’s pay TV service? Read More »
It must have been a galling experience for President Trump when his good mate British Prime Minister Boris Johnson failed to step in line with Trump’s demand that the UK should also boycott the Chinese firm Huawei by not allowing them to be involved in the roll out of 5G in Britain. However, the involvement
Cracks appearing in Trump’s Huawei boycott Read More »
The original plans for the NBN were to build a high-speed residential broadband network that would be made available to the other telcos on a wholesale basis. Corporate infrastructure was basically left out of the plan as these organisations were in general well serviced by competing networks. But wait there was a loophole. What exactly
NBN Co is giving in to pressure to stop competing with its own retail customers. Read More »
I had an interesting discussion on the NBN with several long-term colleagues. What triggered this discussion – we have had many more of them in the past – was the latest results from the Ookla fixed broadband speed rankings. The downward trend that we have seen now for the last decade continues. Australia is now
NBN troubles continues Read More »
Broadband driven Smart Energy Developments
Jan 20 – Energy Central Read More »
As the rollout of fibre to the home project (FttH) remains a slow process it is no wonder that more and more people are looking towards mobile as a potential alternative. Obviously, mobile communication has improved over recent years in providing excellent access to broadband. It has also become more affordable. At the same time,
The role of FttH in the development of 5G Read More »
21 January Communications minister Paul Fletcher has convened an industry roundtable on telecommunications resilience and repair following the national bushfires. It is good to see that most of the issues that we discussed here have been addressed. This includes: Access to power to achieve better infrastructure resilience. This includes site access and access to emergency
Follow up news – National Telecommunications Emergency Plan Read More »
There is no doubt that we are in the midst of an energy revolution. Not only is the nature of energy changing from fossil-generated energy to renewable – there is a total change in the distribution structure occurring with less focus on centralisation and more on distributed energy. Concerns about issues such as energy security,
Broadband driven Smart Energy Developments Read More »
Bosbranden en telecommunicatie: het kan veel beter
Jan 20 – SBS Radio – Jopie Witzand Read More »
For follow up information since the start of this discussion see: https://paulbudde.com/blog/economic-social-and-political-issues-ict/follow-up-news-national-telecommunications-emergency-plan/ In October, the bushfires started around Bucketty. While Bucketty has so far been safe (fires are hovering at around 10 to 15 kilometres from this community now for several months), the people here are totally exhausted. On several occasions, families had to be
Suggestions for a national telecoms emergency plan Read More »
Some of you might recall that I lived in Bucketty in the Australian bush for more than 30 years. In August we sold our place and moved to Brisbane where two of our kids live. In October the bush fires started around Bucketty. Therefore, the new owners didn’t move in till last week. When we
Analyses of the Australian bushfires Read More »
A few weeks, I attended a one-day conference at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) at the occasion of the launch of their new $7.5 million Centre for Data Science. This laboratory is also the lead node of a new Australian Data Science Network, bringing together data science organisations from across the country. The new
The power of data in smart city developments Read More »
Britain’s Labour Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn has promised a national fibre-to-home network for nine million homes in the UK to be completed by 2030 at a cost of £20 billion (AU$38 billion). In the same week, Australia’s Labor Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese made a similar promise regarding updating the current multi-mix technology national broadband network
Full fibre NBN back on the agenda Read More »
A recent event addressed the fact that the world’s liberal democracies are faltering. Many of the problems that result from this are acutely felt in cities. And if we look at some of the more dramatic fallouts of the crises, we see that there are the people using their combined “people-power” to try and demand
Power, Hope and Social Change: The Rise of the City? Read More »
Over the last decade there have been excellent reports from the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) as well as from various industry bodies on reforming the energy market. The reports state this should be done through opening the market up to modernisation, more competition, better interoperability arrangements and better levels of transparency, all based on
Smart devices ready to flood the energy market to force prices down. Read More »
Telecommunications infrastructure plays an important role in providing the backbone for building the Smart Cities and Smart Homes which are emerging around the world. It is encouraging to see that so many governments and telecoms operators are working hard and investing heavily to deploy this underlying infrastructure which we will need for the future. Fixed-broadband
Successful smart cities require significant ICT infrastructure Read More »
Australia has progressed to now be one of the four major sub-markets for data centres in Asia alongside Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. As data centres become larger and more efficient, new data centres are generally being built in centralised areas, mainly in the larger cities of Sydney and Melbourne, in order to achieve the
Australia leads the South East Asian data centre market Read More »
A recent event addressed the fact that the world’s liberal democracies are faltering. Many of the problems that result from this are acutely felt in cities. And if we look at some of the more dramatic fallouts of the crises, we see that there are the people using their combined “people-power” to try and demand
Power, Hope and Social Change: The Rise of the City? Read More »
While fixed-line telephony traffic and revenue are declining, the mobile broadband market is growing steadily. Fixed-line broadband on the copper network is also declining as fibre and fixed-wireless broadband services become more widely available, through the NBN’s multi-technology architecture, with its emphasis on VDSL with Fibre-to-the Node (FttN). In time, much of the voice traffic
Australia’s NBN makes slow progress Read More »
recently reported on the new developments in China regarding its social code citizens’ surveillance system. This has since been extended to businesses as well. By now, thousands of Australian citizens will also have been included in this system, especially people travelling to China for business or tourism. Chinese students in Australia and Chinese visitors to
Be aware of the surveillance state Australia Read More »
Telecommunications infrastructure plays an important role in providing the backbone for building the Smart Cities and Smart Homes which are emerging around the world. It is encouraging to see that so many governments and telecoms operators are working hard and investing heavily to deploy this underlying infrastructure which we will need for the future. Fixed-broadband
Successful smart cities require significant ICT infrastructure Read More »
Huawei not a ‘real risk’ to 5G security, company protests I
July 2019 – Peter Ryan – ABC Read More »
Developments in the telecommunications industry and the broader digital economy have opened up many new markets over the last few decades. Telecoms has changed from a more or less standalone, horizontally-organised industry to one that has become a key facilitator in a range of vertical markets. The keyword that is used to indicate that change
Monetising solutions for the telcos Read More »
The gloves are off now that Telstra has stopped using diplomatic language to savage the NBN. Its chairman stated that Telstra and its competitors could have built a better NBN at lower costs. It is, however, important to first go back to the original NBN — a fibre to the home network to 96 per
The NBN now attacked from all directions Read More »
Large scale video streaming arrived rather late in Australia. But when Netflix finally made its entry in Australia – five years after its launch in North America – it had very easy pickings Down Under. By that time, the country had been suffering for over two decades from a de facto Foxtel pay-TV monopoly, with
Jumping on the Australian streaming boom Read More »
This is a message I received following my article in which I argue that the NBN pricing is widening the equality gap in relation to access to the NBN and thus also to the digital economy and digital society. When going back to the start of the NBN, now close to 15 years ago, the
Message from the coalface – NBN pricing Read More »
The ACCC has slapped a new range of fines and rebate obligations on the providers of NBN services. This shows the deplorable situation the NBN is in. However, it fails to address the far more serious underlying problems with the NBN. This Government-owned monopoly requires far more serious interventions. A typical feature of monopolies is
NBN pricing is widening the inequality gap in Australia Read More »
There are plenty of doom and gloom stories regarding the future of our democracy. Technology is certainly playing a key role in this. However, technology could equally be an important part of solving the problem. Let’s, for example, look at often-maligned social media. While trust is at an all-time low in relation to politicians, corporations
The positive role of technology in democracy Read More »
The my recent article on Fibre to the Farm, ‘A community fix for Australia’s second-rate rural broadband’, received interesting reactions — two especially so. The first one, from regional Queensland, complained about poor broadband and said they had only just got 3G connected — so much for digital progress. However, the discussion went further. There
Truly terrible broadband is depriving people from work opportunities Read More »
Over the last decade, Australia has spent $5.5 billion on satellite and fixed wireless broadband services and another $650 million on mobile blackspots. After last year’s Regional Telecommunications Review, the Government earlier this year indicated another $220 million for mobile blackspots, money for digital inclusions projects and $60 million for a regional connectivity program. It
Fibre to the farm provides opportunities for rural Australia Read More »
Since the Coalition Government has taken over the NBN back in 2013, we have seen the goalposts being changed nearly on an annual basis. It started soon after Malcolm Turnbull’s infamous announcement: “we will bring you the NBN for around $25 billion and deliver it in 2016”. The reality, of course, is that now in
Changing the goalposts and voila here is the new NBN corporate plan Read More »
For as long the NBN has been under development we have heard comments that the NBN is not needed as the world will go wireless. In the early days, this was an argument from, among others, Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. However, while he didn’t often repeat this argument of fear, uncertainty and doubt, the
Do we need 5G to compete with the NBN Read More »
Last week, TelSoc organised a panel discussion about the privatisation of the NBN, as is foreshadowed in the NBN legislation of 2009. The presenters were Professor Peter Gerrand, consultant and ex-Telstra executive Dr Jim Holmes, former chairman of the ACCC Graeme Samuel and executive general manager of the ACCC Infrastructure Regulation division Michael Cosgrave. The
The privatisation of the NBN Read More »
However, as we have heard now for over a year, this has been at the costs of the margins of the retail service providers. NBN Co’s high wholesale prices have squeezed margins for some of them to close to 10%. Companies such as Telstra were used to margins of 30-40%. Without any wholesale infrastructure competition,
NBN Co’s gain is the retailer’s loss Read More »
We recently have heard a lot of complaining from the telecommunications companies in relation to the margin squeeze they experience from NBN Co. While they certainly do have a point, it is also important to look at the other side of the coin. Why have the telcos allowed this situation to happen in the first
Are the telcos crying wolf? Read More »
After nearly a year of diplomatic comments on the need to change the wholesale price of the NBN, it looks like Telstra has had enough. On a media tour, CEO Andy Penn has made it now overly clear that the wholesale pricing structure of the NBN needs to be changed, in particular in the area
Telstra and the expensive NBN: The gloves are off Read More »
Optus recently requested a proper investigation by the Government in relation to a potential data storage cost blowout to retain 5G metadata. This is data that labels information about other data such as files, videos, instructions, images and so on. The telcos are now required by law to collect and store metadata and to make
Will the data retention scheme result in a cost blow out for the roll-out of 5G? Read More »
Recently the Minister made his first more in-depth public comments on various aspects of the NBN. The fact that the telecommunications industry had a sigh of relief when the new comms minister Paul Fletcher mentioned that the government would not sell the NBN to Telstra is an indication how low trust in politics has sunk
Minister Fletcher’s first in-depth comments on the NBN. Read More »
In a recent ABC interview, Sam Dimarco, Head of Stakeholder Relations at NBN Co, asserted that Netflix has been a catalyst for change. It has been blamed as the principal reason why the NBN is unable to deliver the quality that was promised by the Government. The article also mentioned Bill Morrow’s comment on this, admitting that
Not Netflix but Government killed the NBN Read More »
Recently, I went to a lecture organised by the University of Sydney titled ‘Why should the perfect robot look and think just like a human?’ I was intrigued and perhaps even a bit dismayed about this title as I strongly believe that this is not the best direction for robotics. Furthermore, such a new human
Do we want to create true human robots? Read More »
While the network neutrality debate mainly applies in the U.S., it recently flared up in Australia when NBN Co discussed separate pricing regimes for video-based infrastructure. Net neutrality is breached when telecommunication companies provide a preferential pricing regime for companies offering video-based service. This basically creates a two-tiered system: a premium service for those providers
The NBN and Net Neutrality Read More »
In our globalised economy, it is important that we do establish levels of fair trade and the U.S. is right in addressing that issue. However, making technology a key element of the trade war will backfire. Let’s take (again) the Huawei issue as an example. The company has admitted that the U.S/ boycott is hitting
The West is shooting itself in its IT foot Read More »
The populist maelstrom is becoming a threat to the social and economic future of the West. Policies which normally would generate national bipartisanship are suddenly becoming politicised, often simply for political gain. The leadership that the West has previously shown in international affairs is slipping away. Now more than ever the West is faced with
The ‘Us’ and the ‘Them’ will need to come together – soon Read More »
I recently attended a lecture by Ola Rosling of the Swedish-based Gapminder Foundation, organised by the University of NSW. This was a refreshing event in a world of doom of gloom. In discussing what people know in relation to the developments in the world around us, it is frightening to hear how few people have
Factfulness – there is also lots of positive news Read More »
Having been involved in the telecommunications industry for a long time, I followed many of the discussions involving health concerns when the 3G and 4G mobile technologies were introduced. This time, with 5G, the situation is no different. Again, there are many communities worried about the potential negative health effects of the radiation that emanates
5G and the health scare Read More »
“Peak telecom” is described as the maximum point of expansion reached by the traditional telecommunications industry before the internet commoditised the industry to a utility pipe. I had to think of this when I read the recent outcomes of the famous Ericsson Consumer Lab survey. The company used the result of the survey to counteract market criticism
Have we reached ‘Peak Telecom’ and what does this mean for 5G Read More »
There is no way around it – across the western world there is a strong push away from progressive policies towards more conservative ones. Changes in globalisation, migration, productivity and efficiency have happened very quickly. And rapid developments in technology over the last 30 years have played a critical role in this. After the booming
With failing neoliberalism in the West, let us look to the East. Read More »
With a new government and a new Minister for Communication in place it is an appropriate time to start looking at the telecommunications issues that need to be addressed. I welcome the new Minister Paul Fletcher as he is by far the best qualified in government to take on the telecoms portfolio. I know him
Telecoms wish list for the new minister. Read More »
President Trump knows that in the current trade war the Huawei issue is perhaps one of the most important issues for the Chinese government. It directly undermines the Chinese prestige and the ban create global anxiety. This is resulting in discussions in many countries, assessing their relationship with China. It highlights the domination of the
Trade war is turning into a technology war Read More »
Guestblog by Ana Bera It is estimated that by 2020, there will be 50 billion IoT devices will be up and running. To put things in context, the number of connected devices in 2015 was 25 billion, which only goes to show how quickly this technology is taking off. The future is happening now, and
IoT – The Game Changer Read More »
It is interesting to follow announcements from former leaders. I recently compared Malcolm Turnbull’s suggestion for government intervention in the telecoms manufacturing market with his stand as a liberal politician who frowns upon government intervention. This time- but on a different topic – I am looking at an assessment Kim Williams, a former CEO of
Spinning the pay TV pirating issue Read More »
In my review of the smart energy market I looked at new technological developments and innovations that the industry discussed a decade ago, but that never led us anywhere as successive government have failed to come up with a smart energy policy for the country and as a consequence we have not seen any of
Smart Energy review – Transactive Energy Models Read More »
The Vodafone-TPG merger dilemma, what to make of the ACCC decision not to allow the merger between Vodafone and TPG?
The Vodafone-TPG merger dilemma Read More »
During my time as director of Smart Grid Australia and the Global Smart Grid Federation I often used my experience from the telecoms industry to look at new opportunities in the smart energy market. While I started to talk about distributed energy infrastructure over a decade ago, nothing much has happened in the meantime. The
Smart Energy Exchanges – engaging consumers in the electricity market. Read More »
What is the business case for 5G? There is a lot of hype around 5G but none of it is new. We saw the same propaganda – fuelled by the manufacturers – in the run-up to the launch of the 3G and 4G versions of the mobile technology. Driverless cars and a range of other
What is the business case for 5G? Read More »
By my colleague David Bray, PhD Through shared narratives, the enforcement of laws, and through use of technologies, humans have shaped social norms and reshaped how power (i.e., the capability to compel or oblige someone to take a certain a certain course of actions) has been distributed in our communities. Now with the beginning of
Where Do We Want to Go As Open Societies? Laws, Tech, and Narratives for the Future Read More »
A call for the resignation of the NBN Board goes to the heart of the NBN issue. Why did we build the NBN? What was the original vision? And why was the government willing to invest? At the time this was seen as a national asset. The call for resignation was made by Commpete, the
Did the NBN Board deliver the promised NBN outcomes? Read More »
The wonders of electronics. I suddenly received a notification about this submission I made in 1999. It is interesting to look back on predictions I made 20 years ago 🙂 From: Paul Budde Sent: Monday, May 03, 1999 4:34 PM To: ’broadcasting@pc.gov.au’ Subject: Broadcasting – Submission to Productivity Commission Broadcasting – Submission to Productivity
Broadcasting – Submission to Productivity Commission from 1999 (20 years ago) Read More »
How to best manage the social media The internet started to take on momentum in the 1990s. At that time many analysts, myself included, marvelled at the opportunity of creating a platform that would boost grassroot democracy. There was no need for a middleman and there were few barriers to ordinary people becoming involved. This
How to best manage the social media Read More »
Macquarie Bank Is going to launch a mobile product in the telecoms market. This is an interesting development.. It doesn’t happen that often that an investment itself launches a mobile service, to be known as Nu Mobile. Even more remarkable is that it launches a niche mobile service known as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator
Can Macquarie Bank run a niche mobile service? Read More »
Is digital democracy an option – and what is involved in it? Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the internet Berners-Lee, the father of the internet, reiterated his suggestion for a radical change, which would improve the functionality of the internet for the benefit of society. He suggests a sort of refoundation of the web, creating
Is digital democracy an option – and what is involved in it? Read More »
It doesn’t come as a surprise that Labor’s plan for the NBN start with a full blown technical and financial review of the NBN. Labor’s election plan for the NBN was announced this morning by the Shadow Minister for Communication Michelle Rowland. It is impossible to come up with any good strategy for the future
Labor’s NBN strategy Read More »
Because there will be an election in just over a month the Budget is aimed at injecting sugar hits into the electorate. And no doubt Labor will match these sugar hits. It is regrettable that the extra money will not be used to come up with a vision for the future of our country, with
Budget: Short-term sugar hits without national long-term vision Read More »
There are an increasing number of reasons why there are now calls for the breakup of the tech-giants. The most recent one being the failure by these companies to stop the live-stream video of the Christchurch massacre. These hi-tech companies should have systems in place to immediately stop the spread of such high levels of
Breaking up the digital giants Read More »
It is very sad to see that Huawei has become a victim of US-China trade war politics and it will be very interesting to see how their court case against the US Government will pan out, the company claims that the ban of its products is “unconstitutional”. There is no indication that Huawei has been
The Huawei issue in the broader context of global politics Read More »
Over the last few months further information has come to light about the problems the NBN is facing and it is clear that the government will have to step in in order to address the mountain problems of the service. However, in all reality this will not happen till after the Federal Elections. The regular
Will the Federal election be able to end the NBN mess? Read More »
Competition has worked well for many decades after World War II, especially since the 1970s and 1980s when, thanks to liberal policies, competition made a wonderful job of creating the dynamic world we now live in. But is liberalism now turning against us? Has competition peaked? Is it still delivering those dynamic benefits? The signs
The death of competition Read More »
You might recall my recent visit to Armenia, where I had several smart city discussions. Of course, it was with great interest that I read BuddeComm’s new report on Armenia, a country that I will keep an eye on and certainly a country that warrants the attention of innovators, start-ups and investors as a range
Telecommunications in Armenia Read More »
Macau boasts a sophisticated, independently regulated communications market. Gradual liberalisation has now fully opened the telecoms market with the full impact slowly becoming evident. Fixed line subscriptions in Macau continue to fall. Macau’s fixed-line market is transitioning to a fibre broadband market as CTM invests significantly in fibre access networks, a project made possible given
Macau’s smart city project gains momentum Read More »
As society uses more digital technologies we are increasingly also faced with its problems. Most of us will have some horror stories to tell about using computers, smart phones and the internet. But this hasn’t stopped us from using the technology more and more. I believe that most people would say that their lives would
Putting cyber threats into perspective Read More »
Our societies and our economies have reached a new threshold, the developments leading to this are a logical continuation of our evolutionary process, but interestingly the current rapid societal changes are coinciding with the availability of new ICT tools. These tools can assist us in: Political transformation – creating a more democratic environment at grass
The importance of government leadership in digital transformation Read More »
Since early last year I have been commenting on the potential write-off that is needed in order to get the NBN back into a more viable business model. During that time others, such as PWC, Standard & Poor and the Productivity Commission, have made similar comments. With an election looming and a possible change of
Will we get NBN 3.0 right this time? Read More »
In my various media comments on TPG’s withdrawal from the mobile network market, I commented on the one side that the government’s ban on Huawei was a great excuse for the company to abandon its ambitious infrastructure plans. Building such a new network doesn’t make economic sense, especially within the context of a merger with
New opportunities to open up the mobile market. Read More »
It has become clear that having a big cybersecurity war room is not enough to deliver true end-to-end security throughout the complex networks, systems and structures on which our modern society is based. Furthermore, looking at the forever changing draconian government interventions in this space, it is also obvious that they are often stabbing in
Cybersecurity is failing big-time and this is hard to fix. Read More »
My involvement in the ICT industry over the last 40 years has always been to look at the strategic advantages that new technologies have to offer. I entered the industry through a proto-internet development called videotext. I looked at this technology, at what organisations could do with it, and assisted, for example, in the 1980s
Could cybersecurity become a new driver for business transformation? Read More »
I hope that those of you who celebrated Christmas enjoyed being together with families and friends, and that everyone took the opportunity for a break from the everyday world. Happily the holiday season continues so most of us will have a bit more relaxing time ahead. And of course the new year is upon us.
Happy New Year – The NBN and the Australian Telecoms Year ahead. Read More »
This is a good time of the year to reflect on our industry and its place in today’s society – not so much in respect of all of the important issues of the day, or from the year past, but on the broader developments in society in which our industry plays a key role and
As the Digital Business Strategist for the Barcelona City Council, Joaquim Alvarez has been instrumental in helping transform the City of Barcelona into what Fortune Magazine recently called the Most Wired City in the World. Joaquim comes from a telecommunication engineering background, and is a specialist in software development and telematics communications. His passion for
Barcelona’s Smart City Strategist visiting Australia Read More »
The 5G auction brought in $853 million in the government’s coffers, while this is a lot of money the total amount of the spectrum sale is lower because of limited competition, partly because of the restrictions there were put on Optus and the nbn company regarding the amount of spectrum they can have in metropolitan
Comments on the 5G auction Read More »
Despite the big PR splash from Telstra in relation to its 5G announcement, there was not much news beyond phones that look very similar to 4G phones and (video) services that can also be provided over 4G. I remain convinced that 5G is not going to provide any new revenues for Telstra and for Optus
No quick wins with 5G for Telstra Read More »
As has become very clear in recent years a Cold War is going on between the three superpowers – USA, China and Russia. The struggle for world power is immense and while the USA still has by far the largest military power China is catching up. What is perhaps even more important than these military
The digital wars between BATX and GAFAM Read More »
The dramatic collapse of the Bitcoin bubble (and of other cryptocurrencies) is a clear indication that in its current format this new digital payment system is not going to make it. I don’t believe this is just a dip and that the system will suddenly revive itself again. While there are certain benefits of a
The collapse of cryptocurrencies? Read More »
With a tumbling share price and increased pressure from governments across the world Facebook will have to make major changes quickly if the company is to survive. Despite the enormous success – indicated by the fact that people just love to use Facebook, as well as the enormous amount of good that the company has
Facebook is set to fail. Read More »
Global Business Coalition issues statement ahead of the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires The multilateral trading order has proven to be essential for our businesses. For decades it has been the foundation of our global economic success. However, the Word Trade Organization (WTO) is increasingly under stress. For years, WTO members have not shown the
Reforming the Global Trading System of the WTO Read More »
With the majority of citizens living in urban centres around the world, there has been a growing interest in ensuring these highly concentrated populations are living in the most sustainable and efficient environments possible. Smart Cities offer the ability to manage our growing populations and the limited resources and environmental issues we face. In
High-speed broadband infrastructure plays an important role in Smart Cities Read More »
There are many reasons for the current significant problems with housing in our major cities. A rapid increase in population, the move to cities and the often unaffordable house prices are among the most serious issues. If we look at this in the context of smart cities, it is clear that a far more holistic
Smart housing is an essential part of mega-city strategy Read More »
Guest blog by Stewart Fist Cooperative structure option for the NBN The value of the full-fibre NBN being a “common good” – should be seen the same as roadways. But like toll-ways, governments and corporations can still find ways to export these facilities either for profit, or for stoking up their budgets. However there often
Cooperative structure option for the NBN Read More »
A day or so after Telstra indicated that in the right circumstances, and if the opportunity were to occur, it would be interested in buying the NBN but hot on the heels, the ACCC announced that Telstra would not be allowed to buy the NBN. On the surface this makes sense. The disastrous situation
Telstra banned from buying the NBN – why? Read More »
Looking back over the last 30 years less emphasis is now placed on the ‘common good’ than was the case before the 1980s. I will link this to the NBN a bit further in this analysis. Over the last few decades, often for very good reasons, we began to privatise what had been government businesses
NBN and the common good – write offs and Telstra’s interest in buying it. Read More »
Following the Smart City mission from the Netherlands that coincided with the visit of the Dutch Royal Couple in November 2016, earlier this month a combined Australian/New Zealand ‘Smart Urban Solutions’ mission visited the Netherlands. The week-long visit focused on urban (re)development, smart mobility, the future of energy and sustainable building and innovative solutions created
Australian/New Zealand ‘Smart Urban Solutions’ mission to the Netherlands Read More »
Smart cities – hype or reality? I have recently read several critical and sceptical articles and announcements in relation to smart cities, and I have to say that I do share some of that cynicism. Unfortunately in most the cases projects, pilots and technologies that are carried out in the name of smart cities are
Smart cities – hype or reality? Read More »
I recently went to an industry event organised by InnovationAus.com which was unique in several respects. First of all, there was hardly any techno talk. The presentations and discussion took place on a far more strategic level in relation to the effects of technology – in particular AI and big data – on our society
An overhaul of political and economic structures is needed for AI and big data Read More »
Infratech seems to be a new buzzword in our world of technology. It covers the area of convergence between technology and infrastructure. I have been involved in this market since its early beginnings, some 25 years ago (since the internet became mainstream) and I have seen first-hand how difficult it is to marry the two
Infratech reality or marketing plot. Read More »
The merger between Vodafone and TPG will bring the number of Mobile Network Operators in Australia from four to three. Since the announcement there have been plenty of discussions if this merger will reduce competition and thus favour Telstra and Optus or if TPG will indeed maintain its position as national price beater in the
More competition in countries with four rather than 3 mobile providers Read More »
I must have missed the run-up to this and so was surprised when the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Infrastructure, Transport and Cities last week published a report called National Plan of Settlement. According to this report Australia needs a national plan to encourage denser, better-connected and more sustainable cities. Among its 37 recommendations are two
National Plan of Settlement: Good content – wrong strategy Read More »
Last month I was honoured to be invited to be the special guest at BreakFAST, a Sunday morning breakfast meeting organised by Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST) in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, this allowed me to share my telecoms and smart city insights with a group of select government, business and academic
Smart Armenia – suggestion for a national approach Read More »
In general this new government is a further thrust to the right– looking at the developments during the period of the Turnbull government – where little progress has been made in relation to more progressive policies – this further push to the right will most likely have a further negative effect on progressive policies, innovations,
During a recent three-month trip we visited various countries. This time I would like to share, not ICT-related ideas, but my socio-economic and political observations, starting with the very interesting but little-known country of Armenia. We travelled to Armenia – in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia – for several reasons. Firstly, due to our
Armenia – socio-economic and political observations Read More »
For starters I have to admit that the key reason for my second visit to this country was to attend the World Cup, together with my son. Having said that, we also spent plenty of time away from the football fun. I caught up with one of my colleagues in the Gordon Cook network, Arcady
Russia – social, economic and political observations Read More »
Huawei and ZTE have now been banned by the Australian government from being involved in the development of 5G networks. However it is important to state that this is a political issue not a technical one. There is no evidence whatsoever that some clever bits of technology have been added to networks designed and developed
The Huawei and ZTE issue is political not technical Read More »
The internal appointment of Stephen Rue clearly indicates that neither the government nor the NBN company are planning any changes. Some of the questions that have been raised over the last year include; does part of the nbn investment needs to be written down in order for it the be financial viable; what are the
New CEO at the NBN company – where to go from here? Read More »
A relatively small island of only 375,000 people – of which one-third live in the capital Reykjavik – in one of the harshest climates on earth, Iceland also has the highest (or second-highest, depending who measures it) per capita income in the world. Until the 20th century it was one of the poorest countries in
Iceland – the Pots and Pans Revolution and resultant political and social changes Read More »
While I would have loved to see TPG entering the mobile market to bring some good competition to it, in the end business sense has prevailed and Vodafone and TPG have decided to look at merging the two companies. The market has long been dominated by egos and that has made it difficult sometimes to
Vodafone – TPG merger Read More »
We are now on our last leg of our 3-month trip and are leaving Europe on a day the Netherlands is sweltering in 37C, we basically had three months of unbelievable good summer weather. The reason why we were attracted to Armenia is twofold. I was inspired by the passion for his country by my
Armenia using digital technologies to speed up its development Read More »
I am still traveling through northern Europe, after Iceland, Netherlands, Germany and Russia it is now Denmark. On a private note I am visiting two early medieval Viking towns Hedeby and Ribe. These were already ‘smart’ towns between 800 and 1000, becoming part of the handful of leading trading cities in those days. Those who
Smart City in Greater Copenhagen Read More »
The next Dutch city that I would like to focus on after Amsterdam and ‘s-Hertogenbosch is Eindhoven. This is the city where Philips started its business some 150 years ago. And they developed this from light bulbs to some of the most sophisticated electronic devices in the world. But, as is the case for so
The city of Eindhoven promotes a smart society Read More »
After Russia I am now back in the Netherlands and, as mentioned in my previous blog on Amsterdam , I would like to highlight some of the smaller cities in the Netherlands. Amsterdam continues to receive most of the smart city attention, both internationally and in the Netherlands itself; but lots of interesting developments are
Smart ‘s-Hertogenbosch is driven by data Read More »
When I travelled to Russia back in 1972 I was very much impressed by St Petersburg (then called Leningrad) as it was, at that time, already more westernised than Moscow. And on this trip, while this city also has seen massive changes I found the atmosphere still comparable to 1972 – rather different from what
Saint Petersburg Smart City 2030 Read More »
Comment This cost cutting was basically the only option out for Telstra in its current difficult situation. Over the last 30 years it has tried a lot of different things. I was at the launch of their Asia campaign in Geneva in 1992 where they claimed that by 2000, 25% of revenues would come from
Telstra’s only option is cost cutting. Read More »
If you have followed my previous blogs, I am on a smart city tour through Europe. The next few blogs will cover developments in Russia. With the World Cup taking place (where we are barracking for the Australian team) the city, under the charismatic mayoral leadership of Sergey Sobyanin, used the occasion to spend $500
Smart City Moscow and the Wold Cup Read More »
After Iceland, back in the Netherlands again and, as promised, a bit more information from this part of the world. It certainly is not just Amsterdam that is active in smart cities. In this article I will point to some 40+ local councils in the Netherlands that are providing smart city information. Setting an example
Big data portal for smart cities – and indeed a smart country Read More »
Further to my blog on Lyon a few weeks ago, here is some more information on the city’s data platform, which is based entirely on free software and has many features to facilitate the use of data. This data platform offers broad access to metropolitan data. It contributes to the objectives of the Lyon Métropole
The Greater Lyon data platform Read More »
After traveling through France and the Netherlands (see previous blogs) we are now in Iceland. Iceland is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic, with a population of 350,000 and an area of 103,000 square kilometres – mainly tundra – making it the most sparsely populated country in Europe. The capital and largest city
Smart City Reykjavík Read More »
During our European trip (see also my previous blogs on France), the Netherlands has been our home base; so there are and will be plenty of opportunities to also make contact with our many smart city friends and colleagues here. Amsterdam remains the smart city capital of this country, but cities such as Eindhoven, The
Update on Amsterdam Smart City Read More »
Leaving Toulouse and Marseille (see previous blogs) we travelled to Lyon. The main reason for our visit to this city was that exactly a year ago I sold the research arm of my company to Ubiquick, and the new owners of BuddeComm are based in Lyon. We caught up with the management team and it
Lyon’s smart city strategy Read More »
For those of you who did not read my report on Toulouse. I am visiting a number of smart cities in Europe. Next is Marseille, this is the second-largest municipality in France and the third-largest conurbation, with over 1.5 million inhabitants. As a metropolis, a port and a city steeped in history, Marseille faces a
Smart Marseille: a changing port city Read More »
This is the first report from my smart city trip, which will take me from France to the Netherlands, Iceland, Russia and Armenia. We are also combining this trip with pleasure. Over the next three months you can expect regular travelogues from relevant smart city developments in the places I visit. We started in the
Smart City Metropolis 2015-2020 – Toulouse open! Read More »
It was good to see that the Buget included some interesting ICT projects. However it failed again to bring some cohesion to the wide variety of projects. There is no holistic strategy behind it. Again the government failed to use the NBN as a unifying opportunity for a smart national approach. The long-awaited space agency
No leading role for NBN in Budget IT announcements Read More »
I was very pleasantly surprised to see Bill Morrow so publicly talking up the social and economic benefits of the NBN. As mentioned only a few weeks ago this was the element that was most missing from the NBN’s business case, both under Prime Ministers Rudd and under Turnbull. For over a decade this has
Is this the NBN cost-benefit vindication? Read More »
It will come as no surprise to those who have followed my analyses of the NBN over the last decade that in my submission to the Joint Standing Committee on the National Broadband Network Inquiry into the business case for the National Broadband Network I stated that the business model and investment model for the
Is there a business case for the National Broadband Network? Read More »
The last 50-70 years have seen an enormous amount of innovation. In particular there has been an acceleration in the ICT space over the last 20 years, and this is affecting every single aspect of our society and our economy. It is providing us with tools to address the challenges that we are facing –
It is time to seriously start to deploy our ICT innovations Read More »
In just over a month Australia’s leading smart city event will take place in Melbourne (10 and 11 May), organised by the Australian Smart Community Association (ASCA). One of the main reasons I call this the leading smart city event is that this is the only smart city conference in Australia where half of the
Don’t miss Australia’s leading smart city event Read More »
The city council of Helmond (a city in the south of the Netherland, close to Eindhoven) has approved plans for the construction of their Brainport Smart District (BSD). They will start with the preparation for its first projects, the building of around 1,500 new homes in a totally new suburb; a 12-hectare industrial estate will
A new smart suburb for the city of Helmond in the Netherlands Read More »
GSC3 will play an instrumental role in the Smart City Floriade Expo which will take place in the Netherlands in 2022. What can ‘green thinking’ do for you and for the world? Exhibits and presentations at Expo 2022 Floriade Almere will show how the green city concept can be implemented and how to deal with
Green Smart Cities Expo 2022 in the Netherlands Read More »
There is no doubt that big data is going to be one of the most important tools that will assist human society in the future. Our increasingly complex society has been able to move forward, and it will continue to do so, based on rational, scientific facts and figures within the context of the needs
Big data for the common good of local communities Read More »
Disruptive technology can benefit our society There are plenty of discussions concerning the various disruptions that are taking place; this not only effects industries and markets but also politics and in society in general. Although technologies are key tools used by nearly all of us who are, willingly or unwillingly involved in creating disruption, however,
Disruptive technology can benefit our society Read More »
As discussed in previous analyses, the arrival of 5G will trigger a totally new development in telecommunications. Not just in relation to better broadband services on mobile phones – it will also generate opportunities for a range of IoT (internet of things) developments that among other projects are grouped together under smart cities (feel free
Will 5G trigger smart city PPP collaboration? Read More »
It is interesting to observe the changes in the telecommunications environment over the last few decades. Before videotex (the predecessor of the internet) arrived in the late 1970s early 1980s, 90% of telecommunications revolved around telephone calls. And at that time telephony was still a luxury for many, as making calls was expensive. I remember
Transition of the telecoms industry is overdue Read More »
Ever since we started talking about the national broadband network there has been a constant flow of confusing information about the need for fixed broadband, especially in comparison with all the fascinating mobile broadband developments that are taking place. Often that confusion is fuelled from the top. Not so very long ago Malcolm Turnbull, when
Good opportunities for the NBN Read More »
When talking about smart cities Barcelona has a special place in my heart. You might recall my blog from Barcelona late last year, reporting on the changes in that city. Barcelona was one of the first to tackle so-called smart city issues. Over the years they received internal criticism – claims that it was all
Smart City Barcelona goes open source Read More »
Questions for the investment community The federal government’s Smart City Plan, with a follow-up $75 million in grants as well as its City Deals, is stimulating a more strategic approach towards smart cities. In all, there are a dozen cities in Australia that have a solid smart strategy in place, backed up by high-level city
Long-term investment opportunities in smart cities Read More »
There is close collaboration between the Australian and Dutch smart city movements – Amsterdam has presented its smart city activities here in Australia at many events over the last five years; there has been an Australian-Dutch Smart City Summit in Sydney in 2016; there have been ministerial visits from both sides; and most recently the
The Dutch Smart City Strategy Read More »
Yuval Noah Harari has written two incredible books: Sapiens and Homo Deus. His 3rd book comes out summer 2018 titled 21 lessons for the 21st century. His session at the WEF was sandwiched between Angela Merkel’s and Emmanuel Macron’s, perhaps the only historian to be given such spotlight according to Gillian Tet (editor of Financial
Organisms are Algorithms. Read More »
After lots of talk about 5G being a potential competitor to the NBN, Optus is throwing the cat among the pigeons. Its announcement of a fixed wireless product is challenging the NBN head-on. It will be interesting to see what the reaction from the national broadband company will be, as it has already hinted at
Optus makes sure there will be competition in 5G Read More »
Info supplied by YMI.Asia. To commemorate its 10th year anniversary, operator of the ‘.Asia’ domain, released a ‘Youth Mobility Index (YMI.Asia)’ report. It aims to measure the social, geo-physical and digital mobility of younger generations across Asia to better support young Asian entrepreneurs setting out to change the world. YMI.Asia rankings are built on their
Youth Mobility Index Report in Asia Read More »
A leaked document from the US indicates a proposal for a nationalised 5G network. Who would have thought this – coming from a country where even the slightest government intervention in the market is often reported as ‘communism’? It is nearly impossible to believe that this proposal will fly. It won’t get bipartisan support and
Nationalisation of American mobile networks opens up interesting discussions Read More »
While there is a general positive vibe regarding smart cities ther are also serious concerns about the way developments are currently taking place. This has mainly to do with a general lack of a people-focussed strategy – in particular in relation to social elements and personal morals, beliefs and emotions. We have been following what
Smart cities should be based on social considerations Read More »
With a faltering NBN in Australia, many people in the media and outside the industry are suggesting that perhaps we don’t need an NBN at all as with new mobile technologies such as 5G the quality problem of broadband access in Australia could be solved in this way. This argument is not new, the Prime
Mobile broadband is no alternative for fixed broadband Read More »
‘Wireless is just one wire less’ or ‘Wireless is just spectrum wrapped around a fibre core” The Australian mobile telecommunication industry is continuing to resist structural changes, but the reality is that if they don’t transform, technology will do it for them. We have seen the fixed telecom operators slowly being pushed back into the
What is the future for our mobile network operators? Read More »
It was interesting to see that the ACCC has now indicated that a different financial structure for the NBN might have to be the next major step in the Australian broadband saga. After it became clear that, following his proper election in 2016, the Prime Minister didn’t take the opportunity to introduce the essential structural
An NBN write down is now firmly on the agenda Read More »
TPG Telecom Limited acquired local ISP iiNet. TPG is now Australia’s second-biggest provider of fixed-line broadband in Australia with over 1.7 million customers. Services including voice, internet and data solutions are provided to a customer base ranging from the consumer market through to small and medium enterprises, corporate and government sectors. The company also owns a
Vocus and TPG continue to challenge Telstra and Optus Read More »
Most countries, including Australia, don’t have to fear internet quality problems in the same way as might be the case in the USA. The US competition watchdog has little power to hold telcos accountable for the nature of their broadband services. Back in 1996 broadband was classified as a content service and not a telecom
Net neutrality not a serious issue in Australia Read More »
Telstra is Australia’s largest telecommunications provider offering a full range of telecom services throughout Australia. The company provides basic access services to most homes and businesses, local and long-distance telephone call services, and mobile and internet services. Wholesale services are also provided to ISPs and RSPs while advertising and subscription television services are provided through subsidiary
Australia’s top three Telcos face growing competition Read More »
Regardless of whether there are leftish, right-wing or central politics at play, people power and market forces are pushing the use of smarter energy forward at considerable speed. The deployment of the largest battery storage facility in the world in South Australia, together with the many solar and wind farms that are relentlessly being developed
Unstoppable smart energy Read More »
Just back from my trip to Europe where I followed some of the key international telecoms developments. Because of the highly politicised situation around the NBN in Australia it is important to look beyond the sometimes parochially-focussed NBN discussion in our country. At the joint forum of the Long-Term Infrastructure Investments Association (LTIIA) and the
The NBN in the broader context of global telecom developments Read More »
The problem with the NBN multi technology mix (MtM) policy is that they are using old technologies and if you are going to upgrade this you will come across lots of nasty surprises, as already has become clear in relation to the FttN part of the project. Some parts of the cable infrastructure is even
HFC: the next NBN debacle. Read More »
Tell me what your problem is and I’ll tell you what the solution is – money. There is little doubt that citizens, their cities and communities as well businesses, all support the development of smart cities with its promise of increased liveability, sustainability, mobility, social and economic infrastructure and so on. The enormous increase in
Smart city the long-term investment dilemma Read More »
There are some interesting but at the same time frightening developments in politics around the world. This is mainly driven by the fact that people no longer trust their traditional politicians and authorities. The differences between socialist (workers) and liberal (business/professionals) parties have been turned upside down. The liberals are now more conservative, with a
National vs city-based democracy Read More »
With the announcement of the government’s first smart city grants in WA and the NT – with others to follow soon – it is time to start looking at national smart city collaboration in order to achieve a maximum outcome from the funds that are made available and to ensure that we don’t simply end
A key reason for my participation in the Smart City World Congress in Barcelona was to further work on international smart city collaboration that was started exactly a year ago at the Dutch Australian Smart City Summit in Sydney, which was attended by Her Majesty Queen Maxima of the Netherlands. Since that time there have
Smart City World Congress Barcelona: Dutch Australian Collaboration Read More »
Only a few decades ago there were only a handful of megacities around the world. Now there are more than 1000 cities with between 1 and 2 million inhabitants, and 40 cities with more than 10 million people. If we look at population growth in these megacities it is interesting to note that in general
Housing affordability and smart cities Read More »
I am in Barcelona at the moment for the Smart City World Congress. With Catalonia and its capital city Barcelona currently in the international political spotlight it’s a fascinating time to be here again. From my visitor’s perspective life looks normal – perhaps a few more Catalonian flags around, but most were there already when
Hello from Smart City Barcelona Read More »
The ACCC has announced an investigation into the NBN. The trouble is that the NBN needs a political solution; the current problems can’t be solved through regulatory changes. The underlying policy model is flawed and that issue will need to be addressed before we can solve the rest of the mess. Sadly, this will not
The next NBN battle: Affordability vs Profit Read More »
The Global Smart City and Community Coalition (GSC3) is running the famous Holland Pavilion (those who have been in Barcelona before, know what I mean 😊. At the GSC3 stand also the eight Australian GSC3 cities will be on display: Adelaide, Bendigo, Canberra, Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Sydney, Ipswich and Moreton Bay. Several representatives of these
The Smart City Expo World Congress 2017 in Barcelona Read More »
This year I have been awarded with the prestigious Charles Todd Medal for Excellence in Communications. The presentation was done by Charles’ great-grandson Barry in the presence of representatives of the telecommunications industry at a luncheon organised by Telsoc. The Charles Todd Medal The award was established by ATUG (the Australian Telecommunications Users
Charles Todd Medal acceptance speech Read More »
It has taken four years for the government and the nbn company to finally admit what many people have been predicting since the very beginning of the change in NBN plans from FttH (fibre-to-the-home) to FttN (fibre-to-the-node). The Prime Minister now claims that the train wreck was always in the making If that is so, why
And so the NBN blame games start Read More »
There recently have been reports in the Australian media about a report from the Australian Institute that the country is internationally lagging in the sale of electric vehicles (EVs). Only 0.1% of all cars sold in Australia were electric in 2015 (just over 1100 new EVs were bought here), compared with 23% of all new
Cost savings on petrol could propel EVs in Australia Read More »
A big yawn and finally the federal government has woken up from its decade-long ‘sleep at the wheel’ to launch its energy policy. Perhaps it would have made some sense if it had launched this plan a decade ago, but the world has moved on while they kept bickering in parliament. Unfortunately for the government
Smart states and cities will not let the government wind back the energy clock Read More »
BuddeComm describes ‘big data’ as looking at intelligent outcomes that can be achieved from data collaboration. The most critical issue here is strategic management, rather than technology. Big data has become a vital tool as competition is forcing many companies to transform their organisations from a company-centric approach to a customer-centric one. The fact that
Australia progressing as a major APAC data centre hub Read More »
There is no doubt that social media has become an enormous success over the last decade and that it has in many ways made a great impact on how we interact with each other. One could argue that this was exactly what the early innovators envisioned – disrupting the incumbent, fat and often arrogant traditional
Dark business clouds ahead for the social media. Read More »
While Australia was a relative latecomer to the smart energy market over the last five years it has climbed quickly up the ladder and is now in the global top ten countries. Close to 1.5 million households now have solar panels on their roofs and Australia is one of the leaders in the development of
Will we miss out on the next multibillion dollar smart energy opportunity? Read More »
In all reality it looks like the multi-technology mix (MTM) as it is currently being rolled out by the nbn company is as good as it will get. Some Australians will have an excellent service, especially those on fibre-to-the-home (FttH) and fibre-to-the-curb (FttC) technologies. Others won’t see any difference from the current ADSL services they
The future NBN might look rather different Read More »
A recent article from Bloomberg on the NBN, in which I was also quoted, mentioned that Kenya had faster broadband than Australia. While that was true for a tiny part of that country, most people in Kenya don’t have speeds that high. The Australian Prime Minister jumped on that and ridiculed the Bloomberg comparison.
Don’t look at Kenya, look at Sweden. Read More »
Recently I participated in a study conducted by FTI Consulting on ‘The Business of Regulation’ Their audit provides deeper insight into: the drivers of politically-motivated regulation the importance of conduct and compliance in managing that risk, and how a new approach to communication and engagement can help companies shape their regulatory environment. The Business of
The Business of Regulations Read More »
I have been involved in smart energy developments since 2001 (UtiliTel, Digital Economy Working Group, Smart Grid Australia, Global Smart Grid Federation). During this time I have been in contact with all levels of government and all major energy companies as well as with the broader business and R&D eco-systems around them. See No smart
Smart energy – or tilting at windmills Read More »
The changes recently proposed to the Broadcasting Act will allow for a further concentration of media power in Australia. While from a commercial point of view the traditional media most certainly are under attack from the digital media the fact is that the traditional media wield a far greater power over national politics than all
Digital media and media diversity Read More »
It is still a battle to extend the perception of the importance of high-speed broadband beyond fast access to the internet or to Netflix. But the social and economic benefits are equally important, especially looking towards medium- and long-term future development of the region. The healthcare, government services and education sectors are undergoing massive transformations,
The importance of high-speed broadband in regional Australia Read More »
Quite coincidentally, at the same time that G.fast is being discussed in Australia a similar discussion is taking place in the USA; and there is doubt there too about the contribution that G.fast can make to improve the performance of the faltering broadband systems in both countries. G.fast is a band-aid solution that can be
Upgrading the NBN with G.fast has its limitations Read More »
While it is intuitive to accept that the media plays a key role in the level of perceived fear in society in relation to terrorist attacks, it was with interest that I read the bachelor thesis of my Italian nephew, who is studying at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. It provides an interesting
Mass media and the increased perception of the threat of terrorism Read More »
The announcement of the proposed merger of Foxtel with Fox Sport Australia, combined with Telstra’s agreement to dilute its shareholding in the pay TV operator, paves the way for the end of the Foxtel war between News Corp Australia (formerly News Limited) and Telstra. The decline in revenue and subscriber numbers will most certainly have
The end of the Foxtel wars Read More »
It is worthwhile to analyse what is behind Telstra’s recent announcements that it will both cut its dividend and sell $5bn in future NBN revenue. These announcements drowned out the rather solid earnings for the previous financial year and an interesting program of capital investments in its existing network. While the NBN deals negotiated by
Telstra: shareholders vs customers Read More »
The impetuous towards developing Smart Cities can be driven by a number of factors. It may be that citizens, who have increasingly becoming accustomed to the convenience of services being made available through the internet and through apps on their smart phones and tablets become frustrated when ICT services and infrastructure aren’t keeping up. This
Various drivers are propelling Smart City developments Read More »
This again became very clear to me in my discussion with the Joint Standing Committee on the National Broadband Network. When addressing the various well-documented problems of the NBN the chair of the committee repeatedly mentioned in defence of the current multi-technology-mix MtM policy that many other counties were also not deploying national FttH. However
NBN goes against the very principles of conservative government Read More »
It is interesting, but sad, to see the blame game that is going on in the telecoms industry. As with so many of the nbn problems, at the core it is a problem created by politicians. This one goes back to the original nbn policy, and it was the Labor government that created the CVC
Government policy is to blame not the nbn nor the RSPs Read More »
Mid-year NBN assessment The rollout of the NBN has been gathering pace, but many problems remain. Most of the issues mentioned below have been addressed by me at various Senate Inquiries over the last decade. The fact that they have not been addressed and/or resolved it is an indication that politicians have so far failed
Submission for the Joint Standing Committee on the National Broadband Network Read More »
Opinion editorial for the Australian Financial Review There are now overwhelming signs that all is not well with the NBN, through its ACMA intervention the government now also admits that all is not well. ACMA will investigate the war that is going on between the nbn company and its customers, the retail service providers (RSPs).
Let’s press the reset button on the NBN Read More »
Back in 2001 I initiated the very first smart city event in Australia. In all some 75 representatives of Australian local councils gathered in Brighton-Le-Sands in Sydney. The focus of that event was the broadbanding of local communities around the country. This was seen by the local councils as one of the most important elements
The smart city market moving towards 2018 Read More »
It has become very clear that innovation related to ICT and digital technologies is one of the key components for future economic and social strength. Countries with a sophisticated fixed and mobile telecoms infrastructure are well placed to take advantage of these future technological and societal developments. Countries without the necessary infrastructure however are expected
Fixed broadband is a key infrastructure for future progress Read More »
As you can see below I am one of the authors of this publication. On behalf of the publishers, I can offer a 20% discount on any pre-orders of the book (I am not receiving any royalties nor do I have any other financial interest in this publication). There are several different definitions of “smart cities”
Smart Cities: Technologies, Challenges and Future Prospects Read More »
Within the market there is a dynamic shift among customers to fibre networks, as this infrastructure is being built out by nbn (NBN Co), the company responsible for the national broadband deployment. Australia’s broadband sector is making improved progress in its migration to a multi-technology the NBN. Growth in the overall number of broadband subscribers
Australian National Broadband Network rollout finally gains momentum Read More »
With all of the current turbulence in the American society it is no wonder that its telecommunications market is also under severe pressure. In his election campaign Trump promised his American supporters to make changes to what he called the Washington swamp, but it has become clear that the opposite is happening. While in previous
Telcos players in the US set to become even lazier Read More »
The message I am getting from talks with some of the European telcos is that many of them who began to implement FttN solutions a decade or so ago now see that a profitable business model for a full FttH network is within reach. The uptake of higher-speed packages is steadily increasing. In general terms,
FttH business model is gaining strength Read More »
Growth in the Australian fixed broadband market has slowed in line with higher penetration rates. Within the market there is a dynamic shift among customers to fibre networks, as this infrastructure is being built out by nbn (NBN Co), the company responsible for the national broadband deployment. While fibre has become by far the fastest
Australia’s NBN preps for G.fast and DOCSIS3.1 services in 2017 Read More »
Just over two years ago Singapore announced its proposals for a program which was entitled Smart Nation. The ambitious project was designed in order to fasten the city, residents and government into a new digital age of innovation and industry. Singapore is making the bold transition from a successful city to Smart Nation. It already
Update on Singapore’s journey towards a smart nation Read More »
There are many problems with the NBN, but one of the few elements of the original plan that has not been changed might have a longer-term positive outcome – that is, if the nbn company is in fact able to upgrade most of its network to FttC and FttH. I am talking about the monopoly
NBN legislation might still work out positively Read More »
Agriculture is forecast to be one of the key industries where the Internet of Things can make a significant contribution to Australia’s future growth and competitiveness. The future of farming is in collecting and analysing big data in order to maximise efficiency, mitigate risk and drive productivity. Connected farmers will be able to monitor and
IoT network for farmers Read More »
There are a number of industries leading the current changes brought about by the digital evolution – but none more so than the ICT industry. This sector alone has been transformational in developing the appropriate infrastructure, services and equipment required to underpin our societies of the future. The enormous shift towards digital technologies continues
Telecoms infrastructure and digital technologies lead the way Read More »
There is no doubt that we are in the midst of an energy revolution. Not only is the nature of energy changing from fossil-generated energy to renewable – there is a total change in the distribution structure occurring with less focus on centralisation and more on distributed energy. Concerns about issues such as energy security,
Global Smart Energy Developments Read More »
Personal message from Paul Budde I take great pleasure in announcing that BuddeComm has recently been acquired by the French-based research company the Ubiquick Group. After creating BuddeComm nearly 40 years ago it is time to look towards a change for Louise and myself. A key factor in this decision was the purchaser’s ability to
BuddeComm sale to Ubiquick Read More »
It will be the third time in six months that a Dutch Smart City Mission will visit Australia. This time the visit will coincide with next week’s Smart Communities Conference in Adelaide, organised by the Australian Smart Communities Association (ASCA). The first visit took place in November last year when Queen Maxima of the Netherlands
Dutch Smart City Delegation back in Australia Read More »
With the rise of digital platforms, the media industry has had to change and the transformation continues in 2017. In newspaper and book publishing, TV and radio broadcasting, film, music, and other forms of media, we see that the national walls that protect local organisations within traditional models are crumbling. In other words, it is
The Australian Digital Media Industry Continues its Transformation Read More »
Australia’s leading pay TV provider FOXTEL during the last few years has struggled to increase pay TV penetration in Australia. The market has also seen the launch of competing OTT platforms, including Stan and Netflix. These offer competitively priced basic packages, commonly below AU$10 per month letting consumers’ view content at a time of their
Consolidation in Australia’s VOD Market Begins Read More »
With an increased awareness of the importance of digital infrastructure many local councils are disillusioned by not having access to infrastructure such as FttH and smart grids. The organisations involved in the delivery of this are slow in upgrading their infrastructure since in many cases they will not be the recipients of the benefits derived
People are ready for smart environments Read More »
A few months ago I reported on the many incubation hubs and innovation labs that have sprung up around the country, and indeed around the world. Many of these centres are developed within smart cities; some are using local libraries; many ICT companies have their own centres; and the universities have also become key players
Adding creativity to collaborative innovation and other smart developments Read More »
That is what happens when you base your telecommunications policies on the wrong foundations. The problems with the telecommunications industry in America go back to 1996, when the FCC decided that broadband in America should be classified as internet (being content) and that therefore it would not fall under the normal telecommunication regulations. Suddenly what
Telecoms competition on a downhill slide in America Read More »
Will this be the turnaround for the government that many of us hoped for when Malcolm Turnbull took over from Tony Abbott? While politics remains politics, and governments remain governments, the tone of this Budget is completely different from the shock horror Budget of 2014 that resulted in political uproar, a gridlocked parliament, and the
Smart budget – potential for smart developments Read More »
From the moment this suggestion was first mooted I was strongly opposed to the broadband tax that the government proposed in December 2016. It will slam around $7 per month on fixed broadband subscriptions, making the price broadband services in Australia among the highest in the developed economies. The aim of the tax is to
As the roll out of FttH remains a slow process it is no wonder that more and more people are looking towards mobile as a potential alternative. Obviously mobile communication has improved over recent years in providing excellent access to broadband; and it has also become more affordable. At the same time there is the
The role of FttH in the development of 5G Read More »
Back in 1980 when I still lived in the Netherlands I worked with the Dutch futurist Griet Titulaer (an astronomer by trade) in building ‘The Home of the Future’. I would say that at that stage it was more built around innovative interior design with automation features. Home entertainment also played a key role in
Last November the Global Smart Communities and Cities Coalition (GSC3) started to set up partnerships with Australian cities. ASCA was one of the first organisations who signed a MoU with GSC3 in the presence of the Queen Maxima of the Netherlands during the Australian – Netherlands Smart City Summit co-hosted by ASCA. GSC3 was back
360VR video of Australia’s leading smart cities Read More »
With an NBN that is failing many customers it is no wonder that more and more people are looking towards mobile as a potential alternative. Obviously mobile communication has improved over recent years in providing excellent access to broadband; and it has also become more affordable. At the same time there is the fabulous hype
The role of the NBN in the development of 5G Read More »
If we look at the turbulence that we are facing today in many of our western societies it becomes clear that a key underlying reason for the current chaotic situation is the lack of trust that has crept into our societies over the last decade or so. See also my blog from earlier this year:
Today’s key problem is the lack of trust Read More »
For more than a decade I have followed the trials and tribulations of New Zealand’s third mobile operator, 2Degrees. This story started at a time when regulation in New Zealand (or more to the point, the lack of it) very much favoured the incumbent operator, at that stage called Telecom New Zealand. From the very
2Degrees – where to go from here? Read More »
Broadcasting, video media, streaming are topics that are always in the headlines of the media. But it is a mixed bag of comments that you hear: ‘Broadcasting is on the way out’ ‘Netflix reaches 2 million users’, ‘Telstra struggles with Big Pond’, ‘Video streaming overtakes mobile usage’…. the list goes on. We saw the traditional
The remarkable story of Fetch Read More »
In 2017 mobile broadband subscriptions are growing rapidly and LTE infrastructure now carries over 65% of all global mobile traffic. While mobile and fixed will always exist in parallel, there is no doubt that with a faltering fixed network and an excellent mobile network, mobile will give fixed a run for its money. With competitively
Mobile infrastructure will ultimately rely on fibre broadband Read More »
The global mobile market has become far more competitive in most markets around the world due to liberalisation, the rise of Over-The-Top (OTT) providers and, in some cases, the introduction of MVNOs. In addition, as operators go hunting for new revenue streams, there has been much regional and international expansion occurring – along with consolidation.
Competitive global mobile market sees the rise of regional leaders Read More »
Last week I chaired a number of very well-attended sessions at the Connect Conference in Melbourne. My compliments to the organisers, who had gathered together a range of excellent speakers, very different from the commercially motivated group of speakers who so often feature at commercial conferences. The Plenary Opening session featured Dr Amanda Caples, the
The Next Big Thing Read More »
As mentioned in last week’s blog, as we speak Assistant Minister Angus Taylor is now in the Netherlands. He will also be briefed on the Dutch Smart City Strategy that was launched last week. After Australia, the Netherlands is now the second country with a national smart city strategy and there is obviously interest on
Netherlands Smart City Strategy and the role of GSC3 Read More »
It is interesting to compare the major economic models in the western world – the American Anglo-Saxon model, the European Rhineland model and the Scandinavian model. The Anglo-Saxon model is very much driven by small government, market-driven economic and social policies, and in general has a large focus on shareholders value. By contrast the other
Rhineland economic model is closest to smart city developments Read More »
The overall telecoms services revenue reached over $42 billion in 2016, a growth of under 1% for the 12 months to June 2016. The overall market is predicted to grow at a stronger rate in 2017. The strongest growth is coming from the second tier providers, which grew at over 10% during that time period.
Australia’s telco market grows slowly with mobile broadband driving growth Read More »
In 2017 the global mobile market has its sights firmly set on the opportunities offered through mobile data as well as looking for potential new revenues streams presented by the enterprise sector, data mining, 5G and international expansion. Mobile saturation has occurred in many of the developed markets and this has forced some of the
International expansion has strengthened the operations of many mobile operators Read More »
My involvement in the Australian energy market started in 2001 when I brought the energy companies together in Sydney, be it at that at that time we were looking at utilising their infrastructure to assist the ailing telecommunications market that was dominated by Telstra who was at that time unwilling to introduce residential broadband services
No smart energy policy for Australia Read More »
BuddeComm describes ‘big data’ as looking at intelligent outcomes that can be achieved from data collaboration. The most critical issue here is strategic management, rather than technology. Big data has become a vital tool as competition is forcing many companies to transform their organisations from a company-centric approach to a customer-centric one. The fact that
Australia progressing as a major APAC data centre hub Read More »
Having followed developments in the American telecoms market since the late 1980s, and having been involved with the Obama Administration in the development of their National Broadband Plan – at which time I was also invited to do a presentation at the White House – I do have some insights into the workings of the
The effect of American politics Read More »
ere we go again with more useless debates about whether the country needs a first-class national broadband network or a second-rate one; and again there are discussions around what other flavours of the multi-mix technology can we now add to it to strengthen the brew. By now we have lost most of Australians in this
Does Australia need a proper nbn? Read More »
fter the rowdy 1990s and early 00s the dust did settle a bit on the competition problems that continued during that period – more than 20 Inquiries, many court cases and ongoing regulatory corrections. The situation settled down somewhat with the arrival of a new CEO at Telstra, David Thodey in 2006. Subsequent changes to
The state of telecoms competition in Australia Read More »
Back in October last year we reported on our disappointment regarding our two NBN services. We have an FttB service in Sydney (replacing our ADSL2+ service) and a satellite connection in Bucketty (100km from Sydney). As reported, both services are disappointing. The service in Sydney is no better than the previous ADSL2+ service, but at least no
NBN customer service is appalling Read More »
If we go back to the early days of the NBN, now more than a decade ago, some of you might recall that from the very first day we have maintained that affordability was more important than the latest technology. I actually said that affordability was THE most important element of an NBN. Subsequent governments
Will Telstra be able to create a more affordable alternative to the NBN Read More »
Trump’s first week in office has been an interesting, if shocking, one. While many other presidents have been blamed for not using their first 100 days in office to put their stamp on the direction of their presidency, Trump is most certainly doing this. And we no longer need to wonder whether his talk is
ICT industry stands up against Trump Read More »
The Australian mobile market is dominated by the three major mobile network operators Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone (VHA), though there are numerous MVNOs which have a significant market share. MVNOs have been able to offer LTE services on a wholesale basis since early 2016, thus encouraging growth in the LTE sector and cementing the role
Australia’s MNOs prepare for migration to 5G Read More »
The fact that the election of Donald Trump came as such a shock shows the deep division, especially in America, between the people in the upper echelons of society and those who are less-educated, underserviced, and in many cases poorer. While the top 50% of society has, in general terms, done well economically over the
How can smart communities assist in addressing populism? Read More »
At the Dutch Australian Smart City Summit that I organised today, five Australian smart city organisations have received the Golden Ratio statue in recognition for their future collaboration with the Global Smart City and Community Coalition (GSC3). The presentation followed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the GSC3 and the Australian Smart
Golden Ratio statues presented to five Australian smart city organisations Read More »
The overall telecoms services revenue reached over $40 billion in 2016, a growth of 2.0% for the 12 months to June 2016. The overall market is predicted to grow more strongly in 2017. The strongest growth is coming from the second tier providers, which grew at over 10% during that time period. The market incumbent
Telstra, Optus and Vodafone face increasing threat from 2nd Tier Market Read More »
Hello from Bella Italia and in this case from the previous Republic of Venezia. The town has long been a city state and this has helped them in being strategic about its role in a world where more and more policies are pushed back to a city level. Furthermore as we all know Venice has
Venice: a model for smart cities? Read More »
This time a report from Napoli; an amazing city more authentic Italian than the ‘real’ holidays cities in Italy. It has a very long history it started as a Greek city (Neapolis) around 600BC. During the Middle Ages it was – after Paris – the 2nd largest city in Europe. As of the whole of Southern
Report from smart city Naples Read More »
As we have mentioned before, the NBN, as it is being rolled out at the moment, is as good as it will get for many years to come. While we remain critical of the government decision to abandon the FttH rollout we are also realistic and there is no option other than to accept what
Disappointment with our NBN services Read More »
Since the ACCC indicated that it is again opening up its investigation into mobile roaming there has been a great deal of noise from the various telco players regarding the pros and cons of mobile roaming. However very little attention has been given to the more subtle underlying issues. While most the operators involved in
Mobile roaming – does customer service matter to the mobile operators? Read More »
This time to report, not on developments in the Netherlands, but on the progress of the Dutch Smart City mission that will be arriving in Australia at the end of October. This year is the 400th anniversary of the landing of Dirk Hartog in what is now Shark Bay, Western Australia. He placed an inscribed pewter
Hello from Amsterdam Read More »
Referring to our recent report: Smart Cities – How cities can contribute to social stability and security, I agree that technological and economic developments over the last few decades have led to an increase in inequality. The financial benefits of technological developments and globalisation have – in the western economies – largely been delivered to the
Technology and the fight against inequality Read More »
In September 2016, NBN Co indicated its interest in a technology known as XG.Fast, it is a next level up from the G.Fast technology they started to trial in 2015 and it also needs to be seen in the yet still bigger picture of Fttdp (fibre to the distribution point). The development and deployment of
From DSL to FttN, G.FAST, Fttdp, XG-FAST – building the NBN the tortuous way Read More »
In 2016 China launched “QUESS” (Quantum Experiments at Space Scale), a new type of satellite that it hopes will be capable of “quantum communications” which is supposed to be hack-proof, through the use of “quantum entanglement”. This allows the operator to ensure that no one else is listening to your communications by reliably distributing keys
QUESS and Quantum Communications Read More »
Bevan Slattery’s scathing attack on ACCC boss Rod Sims in CommsDay might be a reflection of the attacker’s towering personality but he most certainly has a point. When the government changed the NBN policy from full fibre to mixed technology they fundamentally changed the nature of the project, including the underlying fundamentals. That being the case,
Flawed NBN structure undermines competition Read More »
Recently there was an important development for the broadband sector when the market share of fibre infrastructure lines finally overtook DSL technologies as the largest on a global level. The fixed broadband network is the infrastructure needed to meet the needs, both economic and societal, of the developed markets. In fact in many of these
High-speed infrastructure takes hold – paving the way for revenue streams Read More »
In the USA the FCC has started the discussion on the next level of telecoms in the wireless market, aimed at making spectrum in bands above 24GHz available for flexible-use of wireless services, including next-generation, or 5G networks and technologies. New technologies such as massive-MIMO are going to make it possible to deliver ‘fibre-like’ speeds
The next development in wireless broadband Read More »
It might be hard to imagine but we were already talking about fibre to the home networks back in the 1970s and 1980s. This was in the early days of interactive TV and pay TV and fibre optics were already at that time seen as the next level of telecoms infrastructure needed for such services.
Fibre optic technologies for the next 50 years Read More »
The three LTE networks operated by Optus, Telstra and Vodafone have been developed rapidly during the past two years. These MNOs are striving to provide an infrastructure capable of meetings customer demand for mobile broadband services, and are also preparing for the possibilities anticipated through the deployment of 5G within the next few years. Telstra
Australia’s MVNOs now accessing the world’s fastest LTE networks Read More »
At a recent panel discussion in Berkeley, USA, the topic – The Moral Economy of Tech – was explored. The panel discussed the way hi-tech people in general view themselves and their work, and even though I am not an engineer or a developer of software and algorithms I could very much relate to that. I often
Populism and hi-tech Read More »
Back in 2001 I established Utilitel, an industry alliance of all the major electricity companies in Australia. The initial set-up was aimed at looking at business opportunities for the utilities in the telecoms industry and over the subsequent years various new telecoms businesses were established by the utilities. Obviously this was a tough market and
Tesla doing a Google in the Australian electricity industry? Read More »
The merger was not approved by the New Zealand Regulator (6/2017). During the last decade there has been considerable merger and acquisition activity in the telecoms sector across global regions. Where these processes are not possible, for regulatory or commercial reasons, operators have found ways to share resources in a bid to provide improved services
One of the so-called low-hanging fruits in smart city plans is street lighting. Significant savings can be achieved by replacing the existing system with LED light and allowing for the management of light contingent on the level of traffic. This, of course, also results in cost savings. I discussed the street lighting project with my
The complexity of multifunctional smart city projects Read More »
The digital TV and video streaming industry has changed beyond recognition and it continues to evolve in 2016. Consumer habits are shifting from broadcast TV to on-demand content – especially streaming. Traditional TV viewing is increasingly facing competition from other viewing platforms such as smart phones, tablets, and Smart TVs. Choice is the key. Broadcasters
Pay TV market under increasing threat from Video Streaming market Read More »
With the rise of digital platforms, the media industry is rapidly changing. In newspaper and book publishing, TV and radio broadcasting, film, music, and other forms of media, we see that the national walls that protect local organisations within traditional models are crumbling. In other words, it is no longer an issue of local market
The Apps and Entertainment market continues to evolve Read More »
Interestingly, during the process of establishing the Smart City Industry Collaborative one of the blue chip companies I contacted indicated that they were not a big fan of smart cities as their company was not really in the business of ‘making people happy’. They were selling ICTs to ‘make cities smarter’. This conversation took place a few
How cities can contribute to social stability and security Read More »
The Chinese telecom market is the largest in the world in terms of subscribers and is undergoing transition. Mobile subscriptions outnumber fixed voice connections and voice is giving way to data as the primary revenue generator. China’s telecom market is served by three operators; China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile. All three are integrated
China Continues to Evolve as a World Leader in the Digital Media Sector Read More »
It probably is because we are so good at doing that in our industry. We start with over-promising and under-delivering and then in following years we fix it. So why would 5G be different? Our admirable technology companies are telling us that 5G will be 100x faster than 4G and that it will have 50x
One of the most difficult elements in the development of smart cities is how to finance them. Local government doesn’t have the money for it and while state and federal governments might have more money to spend there is no way that their current tax funds could pay for even a fraction of the investments
Are blockchains the solution to financing smart cities? Read More »
The global digital media entertainment market continues to go from strength to strength in 2016. In particular the global streaming revolution is gathering pace. Streaming is closing in on broadcast TV and the Internet now rivals broadcast TV as a vehicle to deliver consumer content. The entertainment industry generally is flourishing on the back of
The global streaming revolution is taking place Read More »
One of the discussions I am currently having with my international colleagues is about the international trend towards urbanisation and the resulting shift of political, economic and financial powers from centralised states and federal structures to mega-city or mega-urban region centres. Some of my American colleagues expressed the fear that this would further marginalise rural
Why we need fibre-to-the-farm Read More »
In a recent speech President Obama again stressed the need for better collaboration between the tech industry and the government. He referred to his own White House initiative – this has resulted in the newly-formed US Digital Service, which is trying to recruit the tech industry to work with and for government. One of the key reasons
Government-industry collaboration is better than developing a surveillance state. Read More »
Within the debate of the Multi Technology Mix of the Australian NBN, where the HFC also gets included in this mix for approx 20-25% of the connections, it interesting to follow the debate on the upgrade of this infrastructure in America. Cable networks around the world are now faced with a major technology upgrade known
Is building FttH cheaper than upgrading the HFC networks? Read More »
Lake Macquarie City Council has laid the foundation for creating a more connected, innovative and resilient city, with the adoption of the Lake Mac Smart City, Smart Council Digital Economy Strategy. A key development here has been that the council started this project by looking internally. They understood that if they were to develop a
Lake Macquarie Smart Council, Smart City Read More »
Many city councils are grappling with the big data issue. A key driver for their city to become smarter is to provide citizens with access to data sets that they can use to build new applications and services. As mentioned before, the smartest city will be the one with the smartest apps. On the one
Smart Cities and the open data dilemma Read More »
Back in 1980 when I still lived in the Netherlands I worked with the Dutch futurist Griet Titulaer (an astronomer by trade) in building ‘The Home of the Future’. I would say that at that stage it was more built around innovative interior design with automation features. Home entertainment also played a key role in
Waiting 30 years for smart homes and still counting Read More »
For some time now Hamburg has been working on becoming the world’s first Smart Seatropolis through a partnership between the City of Hamburg, the Hamburg Port Authorities and Cisco. With an advanced, end-to-end network being built that connects real-time information between urban services and adjacent port operations historic Hamburg is leapfrogging into the 21st century.
Hamburg – Smart Seatropolis Read More »
Sunshine Coast Council hosted the inaugural Australian Smart Communities Summit in Caloundra. The fact that the event happened there is a reflection of the commitment that this council has to the development of a smart city. One of the most critical elements here is leadership, and both the mayor and the CEO are passionate about
Sunshine Coast leading the smart city movement Read More »
When the Australian government’s National Broadband Network was announced in 2009, Ipswich partnered with surrounding regions to create what they called the Western Corridor National Broadband Network in order to attract national interests and investments. This early start paid off well for the council as it became one of the first recipients of the NBN
Smart City Ipswich Read More »
Over the last 20 years or so we have regularly revisited the developments in virtual reality (VR). I remember experiencing VR for the first time in the late 1980s, so this technology has been in the making for a very long time. And we are still uncertain about its growth over the next decade. There
VR demand set to grow, but little prospect for telcos Read More »
At regular intervals I like to report on developments in e-education. As far back as the 1990s I earmarked the education sector as one of the major beneficiaries of the new developments in digital technologies. I even predicted that this would be one of the first sectors that would take advantage of the transformational aspects
Will STEM and flipped classrooms lead the e-education transformation? Read More »
With some of the poster-child services of the sharing economy now becoming more mainstream it is interesting to follow the developments that are taking place in this early stage of development. All those actively participating in services such as Uber, AirB&B and Lyft have seen regulations creeping up on them, be it in relation to
The maturing of the sharing economy Read More »
As with so many forward-looking cities Geelong started to implement a ‘smart’ project well before the term ‘smart city’ became fashionable. But, as we have been discussing, like most of these projects also this one was at the start not undertaken in a strategic context, and again like most other projects elsewhere being implemented as
Smart City Geelong Read More »
While there are plenty of opportunities for local councils to create cost savings – especially by cutting through their internal silos and using ICT and infrastructure technologies on a sharing basis across the various city systems – the problem remains that before these cost savings can be made significant ICT investments are needed, and the
City-as-a-service – new business and investment model Read More »
As I am involved in both the smart energy and the telecoms market I am in a good position to make comparisons and observations in relation to these utility markets. I have been following the telecoms market for over 30 years and the electricity market for 15+ years – in both cases well and truly
Will telcos become the OTT players in smart energy? Read More »
After 32 years of publishing the monthly Telecommunications Newsletter in print, we have reached the end of our printed era. We were the first telecommunications newsletter to be printed in Australia but it will now only be available online, where it continues as a free weekly newsletter to some 4,000 customers, as well as a blog (2,000
The end of our printed era – 1983-2015 Telecoms & Broadband Business Newsletter Read More »
Last week I attended this most interesting conference. One striking element of the event was that every Japanese presenter mentioned ‘the disaster’ at least once in their presentation. This is how they refer to the Fukushima nuclear disaster. They almost never specify the ‘nuclear’ disaster; if they don’t just use the word ‘disaster’ they refer
Smart community conference Tokyo Read More »
On my recent trip to Europe I also visited my hometown Oss, Brabant, in the southern (better J) part of the Netherlands. Here I drove on the ‘Highway of the Future’, a 6km access road from one of the main the freeways into the city and its industrial areas. This local project has national significance
The highway of the future – Oss, The Netherlands Read More »
There certainly is a lot of interest in the M2M and Internet of Everything (IoT) market in 2016. But what we are seeing is only what is happening on the surface. Most of the M2M activities are taking place unnoticed. For example, all new electronic devices are now M2M devices. Tens of millions of smart
Most M2M activity is taking place unnoticed Read More »
Discussion paper for family and friends. This is a draft version and I never expect a final version. My personal journey: Exploring science and religion Introduction In this essay I would like to explore the role that religion and science has played in our insatiable quest of the meaning of life[1] with questions such
My personal journey: Exploring science and religion Read More »
The all-powerful social network sites People are increasingly becoming aware of the emerging ‘internet monopoly’. Companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and many the other (local) social network and media sites are becoming so large and powerful that they can dictate the use of their services in such a way that people lose control over
The Internet Monopoly Read More »
In 2011 I presented the report, Broadband: a Platform for Progress, to the Broadband Commission for Digital Development at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. Secretary-General of the ITU, Dr Hamadoun Touré, thanked the team of experts that, as lead author of the report, I brought together. And the Director-General of UNESCO, Dr Irina Bokova, endorsed the report
Broadband: a Platform for Progress – speech at UNESCO HQ Read More »
The following is a translation of the press release that was issued by the Ministry after my meeting with Minister Frank Heemskerk in 2009 whereby I officially presented him with a copy of the Big Think Report on Trans Sector Thinking. The Minister, on June 3rd met with Paul Budde to discuss broadband policies. Minister
Trans sector meeting with Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Read More »
