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Editorial

Broadband seems, for some reason, to be a topical political issue. We are well behind some other countries with our broadband service, however we are also supporting a much smaller population. It would be very good to see broadband extended to the bush or even to places like Albion Park near Wollongong, but I think we will have to wait no matter what political party tries to service our needs.

Bruce Beresford, Manager & Editor

In this Issue:

• Featured Site - TopMarks HomeSwap
• Broadband war of words begins
• States back Labor broadband plan
• Telco's speed broadband plan
• Don't be misled by these 10 Windows Vista myths
• Quotes of the day

Featured Site  

TopMarks HomeSwap

lTopMarks HomeSwap is an Australian company providing a service to registered teachers throughout Australia.

TopMarks HomeSwap will help Australian teachers satisfy their wanderlust for traveling in Australia as comfortably, economically and frequently as possible.

We started TopMarks HomeSwap in 2006 to help satisfy your wanderlust for travelling in Australia as comfortably, economically and frequently as possible.

Our goal is to assist you every step of the way in making your Homeswapping experience as enjoyable as possible. We welcome feedback, suggestions and new ideas.

We are only advertising in the State Teachers Union newspapers and Journals to keep our costs down. We are also sending posters to our vast network of colleagues for them to put on notice boards at school. If you want to put one up at your school, go to the “Posters” tab in the navigation menu and download or print them. Visit the TopMarks HomeSwap website...

Broadband war of words begins  

A FAST broadband network could be rolled out within three years without touching taxpayers' savings, federal Communications Minister Helen Coonan says.

Labor leader Kevin Rudd last week unveiled a $4.7 billion plan to deliver high-speed internet services to 98 per cent of Australians within five years.

The plan would be funded partly from the Future Fund, set up by the government to meet the commonwealth's liability to public servants' superannuation.

Senator Coonan today joined the government savaging of Mr Rudd's plan, calling it a "smash and grab".

She said there were two commercial fast broadband networks being considered and there was no need for the government to re-enter the telecommunications industry after spending the best part of the last decade divesting itself of Telstra.

"I think that the prospects are reasonable that there will be an opportunity for a provider or a group of providers to be able to roll out a fast fibre network very soon - much earlier than Labor's could - within three years to the capital cities and then to a much broader regional footprint," Senator Coonan told ABC television.

"That's what I'm working on and that's what I expect to be able to deliver, and without a $5.7 billion (sic) injection from public funds."

Opposition communications spokesman Stephen Conroy declared the government's plan a joke.

"Helen Coonan seems to have ignored the fact that Telstra has written to the Australian Stock Exchange a few months ago to specifically state that they will not be building a national broadband network without significant regulatory reform," he said.

"Helen Coonan and her government have said that there will be no reform until 2009.

"All of the rival telcos to Telstra have also said they need significant economic and regulatory reform from this government before they can go ahead."

He said Australian school children had been unable to get the educational opportunities their counterparts in South Korea, Singapore, the UK, Germany, France and the US already had because they have been building fibre networks.

"Australians are suffering," he said.

"Australia is sliding back, falling further behind because the Howard government just doesn't get it when it comes to broadband." AAP

States back Labor broadband plan  

SEVERAL states say they are willing to play ball with federal Labor and its $8 billion national broadband network.

The headline-grabbing plan announced by Labor last week promises up to $4.7 billion in public funding to be used in concert with the private sector to build a fibre-to-the-node network delivering a minimum speed of 12Mbps to 98 per cent of the population.

Labor said its state government monopoly would be a vehicle for federal-state co-operation.

Federal opposition leader Kevin Rudd has already worked with the states on climate and water, and it appears that at least some Labor states - most of which are running their own fibre-based network programs - are willing to play a part in the proposed broadband network.

A spokesman for NSW Commerce Minister John Della Bosca said the state could not be part of a consortium to build the new network, as its own NSW Broadband Network was owned by service provider Soul, with the government owing the access points.

Nevertheless, the NSW network "could link very well with what Mr Rudd is proposing", spokesman Andrew Plumley said... The Australian >>> more

Telco's speed broadband plan  

PRIVATE sector telecommunications companies will be prepared to roll out high-speed broadband internet to capital cities within three years and without a wasteful handout of billions of dollars of taxpayers' funds taken from the Future Fund.

Telstra was the most likely provider, but an Optus-led group known as G9 would also be prepared to do it once the negotiations over regulations were completed, Communications Minister Helen Coonan said yesterday.

In addition, cabinet will this week select a shortlist from private-sector tenderers trying to grab a share of a $600 million regional broadband fund, which the Howard Government hopes will prove it is making progress on expanding internet access.

Senator Coonan yesterday insisted the Government was already lifting the quality of broadband in regional areas and said the market would meet the demand in the cities.

She said Australia's broadband performance was on par or better than the big, advanced industrial economies even though it ranked 17th out of 25 countries in a list of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

"It is OK at the moment but will not be in the future," she told the ABC's Insiders yesterday. The Australian >>> more

Don't be misled by these 10 Windows Vista myths  

The official consumer launch of Windows Vista has brought with it a great deal of confusion, misinformation, and some fairly ignorant assertions.

Windows expert Deb Shinder debunks some of the misconceptions she's been hearing, such as "You'll have to buy a new, high-end PC to run Vista"; "Vista will solve all your security problems"; "You can't dual boot Vista with another operating system"; and "You won't be able to play ripped music in Vista."

Read the article.

Quotes of the Day  

Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apathy? I don't know and I don't care. William Safire (1929 - )

In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice; In practice, there is. Chuck Reid

Turn the world over on its side and everything loose will land in Los Angeles. Frank Lloyd Wright (1869 - 1959)

When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers. Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), An Ideal husband, 1893

Sometimes it is not our responsibility when we get knocked down, but it is our responsibility to get back up. Rev - Jesse Jackson or Rev. Al Sharpton ?) - a good one for motor scooter accidents...

Brought to you by The Quotations Page

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