Objectives

What communications options we are lobbying for:

Fast

· Must meet expectations now and in the future

- Minimum speeds to meet “broadband” classification are 25Mbps down/4Mbps up in 2015 (FCC/America but used as a baseline across the world an in Australia).

- Data speeds have historically increased 10x every five years! A service which meets the minimum broadband speed now must be upgradeable in the near future in order to keep up with rising demands.

· Latency (delay)

- Must be able to hold a standard voice conversation with your neighbours and across the country without suffering from noticeable delays.

Reliable

· A communications service shall provide a reliable “life-line”.

· Reliability should not be less than metropolitan areas (99.9%)

· Consideration shall be given to minimising the effects of:

- Rain Fade

- Bushfires

- Power outages

Affordable

Communications are an essential service. As such, they shall be fairly priced at a uniform level across the country (much like plain phone services, power and water have been priced over the past decades).

· Data is considered a vital component of pricing. The $/GB paid by urban fringe and regional areas should not be more than metropolitan areas.

· Data Quota (that is, maximum amount of downloads possible without speed reduction) shall be on par with metropolitan areas and no less than what we already have (Unlimited data on ADSL2).

Communications longevity

As we know from decades of experience, longevity of communications infrastructure in urban fringe areas is of vital importance. Whereas communications options in the metropolitan centres are constantly upgraded and augmented to suit rising expectations via simple market based competition; the simple fact is that outlying areas are left to fend for themselves on ancient and out-dated technologies far longer due to lack of market competition.

In Wamboin, most of our copper phone lines were installed in the 1970’s, with some augmentation as the sub-divisions continued through the 1990s. And while our metropolitan neighbours in Canberra received both TransACT and ADSL connections in the mid 90’s, with resulting instant internet speed increases; it wasn’t until a decade later in the mid-late 2000’s that Wamboin received similar ADSL upgrades. Notably, the area still suffers from non-upgraded ADSL1 on the eastern RIM (Bungendore) and at Gearys Gap Exchange in the north in addition to unsuitable pair-gain systems remaining in place on numerous properties.

If we remain on the NBN Satellite (as is presently the default option), we will again be lumbered with a communications system that already does not compete with our metropolitan neighbours and has no upgrade path in sight for at least the next 15 years.

As such, we believe that any communications service provided to the area must be upgradeable to meet rising expectations over time in order to be deemed fit-for-purpose. This includes upgrades to upload/download speeds and capacity to handle growing data demands.