Thursday | 8 January, 2009
CIO
Labor to scrap $1.9 billion WiMAX network
Minister claims five years' wait for fibre worth it
Darren Pauli (Computerworld) 29 August, 2007 16:42:47

Shadow minister for communications and IT Stephen Conroy has smashed the federal government's Australia Connected initiative and promised to wipe out the broadband taskforce if Labor wins government.

Speaking at the Australian telecommunications summit in Sydney today, Conroy labeled the federal governments' $1.9 billion broadband plan to roll out WiMAX and ADSL2+ across the country with the popular "fraud-band" tag.

He said the network's purported speeds of up to 12Mbps could fall as low as 512Kbps because of changes in topography such as mountains and buildings, distance between nodes, power limitations for residents outside 240 volt grids, and traffic build-up.

The OPEL network will operate on a shared spectrum, and will employ a mix of technology, including ADSL2+, WiMAX, and wireless mesh networks in densely populated areas.

"Labor's fibre to the node (FttN) network will have a minimum of 12Mbps delivered to 98 percent of the population and will promote competition [because] it will be built on open access," Conroy said.

"I am a fan of WiFi networks but they are complementary to FttN networks, they are not a substitute.

"We reject the [government's] proposed closed-access network and Labor's open-access network is fully costed by Telstra."

Conroy dismissed claims by federal ICT minister Helen Coonan that FttN connectivity is restricted within a four kilometre radius of an exchange, claiming Labor's FttN base stations will be placed five to to 10 kilometres apart, well within the 20 kilometre radius proposed by analysts.

The FttN network is based on Telstra's 2005 proposal which will cost $4.7 billion of government and private funds and will be rolled out over five years.

Conroy said a fibre-to-the-home (FttH) network would be not be immediately considered as projected costs range between $30 and $50 billion.

The opposition will demand open access for all sections of a FttH network, including the last mile which links the premise to the node currently controlled by Telstra.

The Labor government would honour the current government's OPEL-lead broadband proposal if it wins the next election and the plan has been signed off.

Additional Resources
Executive Guides
Whitepapers
Zones
Zone logoZones provide focussed content from CIO and leading technology partners.
Newsletter Subscription
Sign up for our CIO newsletters!
RSS Feeds
Featured Whitepaper Sponsors
Market Place
 

Smart SOA World Tour

Discover how SOA can create smarter outcomes for your business.

Attend and learn:

  • How SOA is helping leading companies to become more agile
  • Where you should be applying SOA processes in your company
  • The top SOA implementation mistakes to avoid

Click here for more information.
  • +

    CIO Live Podcast #79: Brent D Taylor, author of The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires Part II 05 October, 2007 06:00:00

    For his new book, The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires, social researcher Brent D Taylor spent four years of intensive research investigating the psychological make-up and backgrounds of some of the world's richest men and women, including IT luminaries Bill Gates, Larry Ellison and Steve Jobs. Taylor discovered that, despite working in different industries and coming from different upbringings, they all have one thing in common -- they are all outsiders.
  • +

    CIO Live Podcast #78: Brent D Taylor, author of The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires 28 September, 2007 17:34:25

    For his new book, The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires, social researcher Brent D Taylor spent four years of intensive research investigating the psychological make-up and backgrounds of some of the world's richest men and women, including IT luminaries Bill Gates, Larry Ellison and Steve Jobs. Taylor discovered that, despite working in different industries and coming from different upbringings, they all have one thing in common -- they are all outsiders.
  • +

    CIO Live Podcast #77: Panasonic Speeds Up Trans-Pacific File Transfers, Part III 21 September, 2007 07:00:00

    Part three in our three-part special report from CIO's sister publication Network World in the US, as Paul Desmond reports from the Network World IT Roadmap Conference in Santa Clara, California. With development teams in the US and Japan, Panasonic needed a more efficient way to move very large files between the two locations. Iben Rodriguez, IT consultant for Panasonic Research and Development, explains how a storage-area network and virtual server technology helped speed up WAN performance.
  • +

    CIO Live Podcast #76: Panasonic Speeds Up Trans-Pacific File Transfers, Part II 14 September, 2007 07:00:00

    Part two in our three-part special report from CIO's sister publication Network World in the US, as Paul Desmond reports from the Network World IT Roadmap Conference in Santa Clara, California. With development teams in the US and Japan, Panasonic needed a more efficient way to move very large files between the two locations. Iben Rodriguez, IT consultant for Panasonic Research and Development, explains how a storage-area network and virtual server technology helped speed up WAN performance.
  • +

    CIO Live Podcast #75: Panasonic Speeds Up Trans-Pacific File Transfers, Part I 07 September, 2007 07:00:05

    Part one in our three-part special report from CIO's sister publication Network World in the US, as Paul Desmond reports from the Network World IT Roadmap Conference in Santa Clara, California. With development teams in the US and Japan, Panasonic needed a more efficient way to move very large files between the two locations. Iben Rodriguez, IT consultant for Panasonic Research and Development, explains how a storage-area network and virtual server technology helped speed up WAN performance.
  • +

    Data breaches rose sharply in 2008, says study 08 January, 2009 08:27:00

    More than 35 million data records were breached in 2008, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center.
    More than 35 million data records were breached in 2008 in the U.S., a figure that underscores continuing difficulties in securing information, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC).
  • +

    Rogue SSL certificate exploit puts VeriSign on the spot 07 January, 2009 11:04:00

    Wishes "white hat" researchers had notified VeriSign before public demo.
    Following the success of researchers last week in creating a false SSL certificate based on VeriSign's RapidSSL brand, the company is scrambling to explain how it happened, how it's preventing it from reoccurring, and whether its other SSL certificate-generation services are at risk.
  • +

    With Gaza conflict, cyberattacks come too 05 January, 2009 08:03:00

    Pro-Palestinian hackers have defaced thousands of sites following attacks in Gaza.
    The conflict raging in Gaza between Israel and Palestine has spilled over to the Internet.
  • +

    5 ways to secure your Blackberry 18 December, 2008 12:58:00

    What do Tom Cruise and the McCain campaign have in common? They have both been bitten by the loss of a Blackberry. Mobile expert Dan Hoffman gives advice on how to keep your cherished mobile device safe, even if it's out of your hands
    What do Tom Cruise and the McCain campaign have in common? They have both been bitten by the loss of a Blackberry. Mobile expert Dan Hoffman gives advice on how to keep your cherished mobile device safe, even if it's out of your hands.
  • +

    Wireless VPNs: Protecting the wireless wanderer 18 December, 2008 11:04:00

    Employees sipping café Java over their wireless laptops may think a VPN makes them safe and secure. With careful configuration, there's some chance they're right
    Employees sipping café Java over their wireless laptops may think a VPN makes them safe and secure. With careful configuration, there's some chance they're right.
CIO Webcast Innovation #8 - What are the biggest roadblocks to IT's involvement in innovation at your company?
Watch the latest latest edition of CIO Innovation which is now available for download.
Watch the webcast
Sign up to the CIO Innovation update email


CIO Live Podcast #79: Brent D Taylor, author of The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires Part II
Listen to the latest edition of CIO Live which is now available for download.
Listen to the podcast
Sign up to the CIO Live email
Whitepaper

Refresh your AUP: Top tips to ensure your acceptable use policy is fit for purpose

Your organisation may well have devised and implemented an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) some time ago in order to guard against the risks of inappropriate use of computer systems by your workers, but are you confident that your AUP remains 'fit for purpose'? Read on to discover how you can enhance the effectiveness of your AUP.