Will Rudd's bush backhaul bonanza deliver? - Broadband
Will Rudd's bush backhaul bonanza deliver? - Broadband: "Commentary: The Rudd Government's decision to kick off its NBN backhaul upgrades with a $250 million investment in six rural centres may be great news for telecoms in those areas, but it's also an indictment of the fully privatised model of telecommunications that was foisted on rural Australia over a decade ago.
Initially, the Howard Government's assumption was that competitive forces would spur private-sector investment that would generate untold momentum for technological progress. While the cities ended up awash in bandwidth, however, many rural areas were only kept online at all thanks to the pressure of the Universal Service Obligation and related Digital Data Service Obligation, and their paltry 64Kbps minimum connectivity standards"
Initially, the Howard Government's assumption was that competitive forces would spur private-sector investment that would generate untold momentum for technological progress. While the cities ended up awash in bandwidth, however, many rural areas were only kept online at all thanks to the pressure of the Universal Service Obligation and related Digital Data Service Obligation, and their paltry 64Kbps minimum connectivity standards"
