Australia’s biggest infrastructural projects were built with the future in mind. The Snowy Hydro scheme has supplied energy for almost 50 years and will continue to do so for hundreds of years. Our biggest bridges – some dating back as far as 1923 were built with up to 10 lanes, not 2. So why is it, that as the coalition installs the National Broadband Network - NBN, we’re expected to bank our future, Australia’s future - on a fragile copper network that scientists declared unusable years ago, instead of investing in fibre which can support our internet needs for over a 100 years. Firstly, let’s discuss how and why the NBN itself is a disaster. When the rollout first begun in 2010, under the Labor Party, Australians were promised Fibre to …show more content…
It had already begun to cost more than the Labor’s plan, and what’s more, its completion date was pushed back to 2020, just one year before the Labor’s plan would have finished. We’re paying more, and waiting almost just as long – for an inferior solution. Which leads to my next point, the short-sightedness of those administering the rollout. The CEO of NBNco, Bill Morrow stated the following regarding faster internet speeds: “Even if we offered it for free, we see the evidence around the world that they [Australians] wouldn’t use it anyway.” Such a myopic perception is laughable. It is frustrating to believe that the man responsible for our internet can be so ignorant. A stronger broadband network fosters innovation and entrepreneurship, it drives the economy, it delivers to our children and to our health, it is the backbone of society. Whilst Bill’s statement may hold true for some, the biggest issue here is that many Australians don’t know that they want faster internet speeds. Let them experience it. Take it away. And then tell me that we don’t want faster internet speeds. We’re putting billions of taxpayers’ money in to the NBN, and it’s being thrown away by a man who does not even believe in his own project. Which brings me to my next point: inequity within the NBN rollout. Most Australians work hard and pay taxes, so why is it that not everyone receives the quality NBN? Using a measure of socio-economic index, it was
Why fix a system that isn't broken? We always have been free to browse anything on the internet(no extra packages to pay to view extra things), so why it change now? It only will benefit large companies and the majority of people are middle class, so there'll be a major difference of opinions. Ultimately, more than half of the nation would like to keep net neutrality in play.
The biggest concern is that the internet will become pay-to-play technology with two tiers: one that has speedy service and one that doesn’t. The high-speed lane would be occupied by big internet and media companies, and affluent households. For everyone else there would be the slow lane.
However, the same article also points out that there is disagreement as to whether or not this can actually be seen in the real world, as there could be other factors that affected investment at these times besides net neutrality.[5] And not only that, but according to the LA Weekly, “What the End of Net Neutrality Could Mean to L.A.” the extra financial costs that would likely be associated with a non-neutral net would have a guaranteed impact on the affordability of internet in these
As previously stated, net neutrality is a complex subject and it has many layers. One issue of major of concern is that of “fast lanes” and the establishment of net neutrality would prevent ISPs from forming these types of connections. Simplified, a fast lane is line of service that provides faster upload and download speeds. A fast lane would allow ISPs to charge companies such as Netflix, Skype, PlayStation Plus, and other streaming services for faster connections that would allow consumers to access the services easier and faster. Proponents of net neutrality worry that the extra expenses for fast lanes could become a formidable challenge for startups and small business owners. Large corporations typically
Most Americans today don’t even know what net neutrality is, let alone how it so greatly affects their life. Whenever you use the internet you are benefiting from net neutrality. Net neutrality is what allows us to visit any website at the maximum speed anytime with no slowdowns or interference by ISPs. This is one of the core ideas that internet was founded on. ISPs (Internet Service Providers) are the companies that are trying to restrict and monopolize the internet. The removal of net neutrality would allow ISPs greater control over what you can do, create and view on the internet. If ISPs have this ability, they could greatly influence people’s quality of life. The right to net neutrality is going to be addressed next year by the
After reviewing the videos about net neutrality, and the pros and cons on the subject, I am a supporter of net neutrality and against priority internet access. The meaning behind net neutrality is essentially that no bit of information should be prioritized over another bit of information. The first video’s analogy was comparing the big internet broadband companies, such as Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu, as big trucks dominating over the other smaller internet sites which would be the smaller cars on the highway. Now since the FCC’s new rule, those big companies will not be able to dominate the speeds of internet because they paid more money. I believe that the internet does not need broadband companies fighting over who is going to control
Tim Berners-Lee said “Freedom of connection with any application to any party is the fundamental social basis of the internet. And now, is the basis of the society built on the internet.” Net Neutrality has been around since the beginning of internet. It is the reason the internet is open and free for anyone to use without, blocking, degradation, and discrimination. It has been the main driving force for up and coming artists, new small businesses, and people with fresh and great ideas. It has made the internet effortless and accessible without charging outrageous fees for a faster lane or having to ask for permission to use visuals, video, or audio. It
Connected Nation (CN) is a national 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to bringing the benefits of broadband to all Americans, with a belief that the widespread access, adoption, and use of broadband-enabled technology has the power to improve lives. CN has pioneered broadband research, community technology planning and demand stimulation for over 10 years. In the last five years, CN has partnered with a total of 9 states and one U.S. territory to complete successful broadband-focused initiatives under the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s State Broadband Initiative (SBI). CN’s state initiatives have been active in Texas, Alaska, Nevada, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, South Carolina, and the territory of Puerto Rico.
For the past 7, weeks Australians have been bombarded with one of the longest political campaigns in the history of this country. As the campaign progressed we saw both Malcolm Turnbull travelling around the Australia promising a lot of money to many projects: on the condition that the state government would have to pay up to half the cost to fund the projects. Sean
It’s the biggest fight of the year Muhammad Ali vs Mike Tyson. Two of the best heavy weight boxers of all time are preparing to go head to head in the ring. Which one do you choose? The one with the lightning fast speed or the one with heavy jabs. Now imagine your internet service providers going toe to toe. Comcast vs Time Warner cable. When you consider the amount of subscribers each of them has numbers show that Comcast 22.3 million which is twice the amount of consumers as Time Warner coming in at just 12 million.
Over 280 million people could have something really unique changed from their lives and not even be aware of it (United States Internet Users, n.d.). Internet users in the United States are faced with a problem that could change the Internet as they know it. As Eric Schmidt (2006) CEO of Google puts it “Creativity, innovation and a free and open marketplace are all at stake in this fight." This is because Net neutrality is at risk from Internet service providers who want the ability to charge for what they call a “fast lane” on the Internet and the FCC is making it possible for this to happen. Net neutrality is the principle which states that no bit of information should be prioritized over another and that Internet service providers, or ISPs, are to be completely detached from what information is
In March 2007, the Australian Labor Party rolled out its broadband voting strategy to augment internet momentums for 98 percent of Australia citizens to make forty times faster. Labor believed that its nationwide broadband network (NBN) would provide significant national economic advantages and novel services for the gain of the many consumers, specifically those in the regional and rural parts. Labor obligated that I t would associate with the private division to provide a fiber-to-the-node (FTTN) NBN for more than five years to 98 percent of the inhabitants with least amount speeds of 12 megabits every second. Labor also dedicated that within a six-month time
Some of the other sub-arguments, more specifically sided with the ISPs, listed throughout the article are that, “…users, not network providers should continue to decide how they want to use the Internet if the Internet is to realize its full potential and that the law should forbid ISPs to block applications and content or to discriminate against them.” (van Schewick, 31, 2009), “Network providers may also be motivated to interfere with applications to manage bandwidth on their network.” (van Schewick, 32, 2009), and lastly “… network providers may have an incentive to block unwanted content that threatens the [companies] interests or does not comply with the network provider[s] chosen content policy.” (van Schewick, 32, 2009). Here it becomes clear why some ISPs would be keen on not following, or being against, Network Neutrality rules when it comes mostly to the abuse of resources. Many ISPs and mobile carriers have associated fair use policies with their services that aim to protect the average user from the data hungry users, and this is done by throttling users when they reach a certain data
I listen to WTOP or HLN on my way to and from work every day. The other day, I heard a snippet about AT&T working on an internet system that would provide “ultra-fast wireless broadband” internet (Padla 2016). I was excited to hear the newscast, because we had to wait almost three years before getting high speed internet,when we moved don to St Mary’s county. The thought that there are still people in our country that cannot get internet seems ridiculous.
In April 2009, Federal government took the bold step to announce the single biggest infrastructure investment by any Australian government to build National Broadband Network (NBN). NBN has the potential to deliver benefits equivalent to the benefits delivered by other technology milestones in past two decades such as widespread adoption of computers and mobile phones. NBN rollout aims to improve the quality and speed of broadband significantly compared to what is available currently to most consumers and business in Australia. NBN rollout will also prepare Australia to withstand any future infrastructure challenges.