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Networking Australia's Future - Chapter 1

Overview

New communications technologies and services in the coming decade will transform society. We must manage this change sensitively to ensure that it is consistent with our social, economic and cultural goals.

We see communications networks as a platform supporting social interaction, education, health and government services, business relations, and our communications with the world.

Many of the new services will be interactive - they will allow users to explore and communicate, and to create and distribute their own material.

Introduction

In the next decade, large-scale communications investments in Australia will pave the way for many business, government, information and entertainment services. These services could change forever the way business and government operate and how we communicate with our colleagues, families and friends. Over time, even the significance of international borders and the design of towns and cities will change.

We are now entering the communications age. Massive quantities of information can be rapidly transmitted to any corner of the earth. And advances in communications and information technologies will continue to accelerate in the coming decade. These changes, in combination with a population able to take advantage of the opportunities they present, will be as transforming as the spread of literacy.

In Australia, we have often rapidly assimilated new technologies into everyday life. Video cassette recorders are now in over 80 per cent of Australian homes, personal computers in about 30 per cent. In the space of a few years the mobile phone has become an essential business tool, a way for parents to keep in touch with their children and for users to be contacted any time, almost anywhere.

Technological progress can be frightening, especially when it demands skills we don't have. We now know that if new technologies are to be widely accepted they must be easy to use and they must offer the kinds of services that people want. Services, rather than technologies, will determine the extent to which we embrace the new opportunities.

It is up to us as a community to ensure that information and communications services are used to create the kind of society we want. Many issues will have to be confronted in the coming years: what type of video material should be accessible through computer bulletin boards? what about privacy and copyright? do you want data kept on what you've ordered through a home shopping service, or what movies you've watched? would you be comfortable with your medical data or bank records being transmitted over the network?

Physical infrastructure questions will also be important in developing the type of communications network that we want.

Creative Nation, the Government's recent cultural policy statement, emphasised the role of information and communications technologies in making cultural products accessible to all Australians. In creating and disseminating cultural materials we are weaving a fabric that unites us as a nation and advancing our economic well-being.

Of course, our communications systems are far more than this. They are the means through which we establish a sense of community, maintain personal relationships, conduct our business, entertain ourselves and build links with the rest of the world. And access to information and the opportunity to participate fully as a member of society are fundamental to our democratic processes.

The communications platform

The Group believes that, rather than seeing the communications network as a system that connects us to phones, televisions and computers, we should see it as a platform underpinning our society, supporting a diverse and interwoven range of social, business and community activity.

The new communications networks will provide a platform for greatly improved communication and social interaction. Less-structured family lives and increasing geographic dispersion and travel are creating demands for more flexible forms of personal communication that transcend barriers of place and time. People are looking for ways to make better use of their time and to promote social contact.

To facilitate this interaction between people, consumer viewpoints need to be taken seriously in the design of, and access to, the basic tools and systems. Systems need to be designed with interactive communication in mind. With such a platform, we need no longer feel constrained by the 'tyranny of distance' - virtual communities of interest are being created across the world. But the scope for improved communication between people will be just as great closer to home.

The communications platform will support education services. In this regard, we agree with several submitters' views about the importance of the education sector. We are convinced of the central role that education will play in the communications society. Many new opportunities for learning will present themselves. Just as importantly, we agree that the education system itself must contribute to the development of a clever country by producing people who are comfortable with new communications tools. As John Paul College in Brisbane submitted, there is a 'need to use our national education system to produce a generation of young men and women who will emerge capable and anxious to use all modern technology (but, especially, broadband services) to maintain Australia's international competitiveness'.

The communications platform will support improved health services and better delivery of government services. Improving health care delivery to rural and remote as well as metropolitan areas, the shortage of qualified and expert medical practitioners in some regions, and the export potential of new services will drive the demand for telemedicine. For government, the attraction of new communications services will lie in improving the way it does business and in enabling it to provide better services for people.

The platform will also enhance business relations. This report discusses a number of new business applications and the profound effects they are having on business practices, organisational structures and office locations. Mobile access to central databases, document, data and graphics transfer capability, group calls and video conferences are some of the emerging services.

Electronic commerce (electronic trade between business partners) will become increasingly important to the 'bottom line' of firms. Networks can provide the platform for these services - but to make the most use of them businesses must take a fundamental look at their operations to build network services into their processes.

Taken together, these applications will influence our trade and industry competitiveness. Globalisation of markets is increasing the pressure to adopt information-efficient practices and leading to restructuring of many industries. A country left behind in communications runs the risk of falling behind in the global competitiveness race as well. Other countries recognise this. For example, The Canadian Information Highway discussion paper published by Industry Canada argues that 'if Canada does not match the efforts of its competitors in accelerating infrastructure development, opportunities for network, product and service development - and the resulting economic growth and new jobs - will be seized by firms in other countries'. Or, as our own Prime Minister said recently, 'We are fast approaching a moment in our history when how well we play the information game will determine how well we prosper.'

Finally, the communications platform will bring with it new industries, and new opportunities for existing industries. Creative Nation highlighted the possibilities for interactive multimedia services. The Expert Group strongly believes that Australia has the potential to develop a vibrant multimedia industry. CD-ROM is an early manifestation of this. Interactive multimedia services developed for on-line delivery will become increasingly important. Not all this multimedia content will result in huge export earnings - some will be very small scale and even personal - but we do have the opportunity to take a significant share of the world's multimedia content production.

The innovative design and development capabilities of the Australian workforce will allow existing industries, including equipment manufacturing, to take advantage of the many opportunities the communications platform will present. Many of these industries are rapidly approaching world best practice.

In the interim report, the Group identified a number of key principles that it believed should underpin the development of broadband services in Australia:

It must be based on our tradition of inclusiveness and avoid creating or adding to inequalities.
Access to the network should be open to content providers regardless of size.
Broadband services should reinforce our cultural identity.
Broadband services should contribute to the economic and social well-being of the community.
Private investment and competition should be promoted wherever appropriate.
We need to promote involvement of Australian industry in developing leading-edge applications and content, in building and running broadband services networks, with carriers working in partnership with industry.
Government should actively encourage the development of broadband services.
We need a flexible regulatory framework which supports openness of access and keeps pace with change.

Responses to the interim report and our public consultations strongly supported these principles. This report is about the 'how' of broadband services - how they might be introduced in Australia. Many implementation details are discussed but, rather than being a blueprint for the path to the communications age, this report should be seen as setting in motion a complex evolutionary process, providing a starting point and framework through which some common understanding of the issues is gained and agreement reached on a strategy for implementation.

What sort of communications future do we want?

In looking at how the communications platform might evolve, the Group found it useful to consider what sort of communications future we as a community want. The following possible approaches to the communications future are put somewhat starkly, but this will help to clarify many of the issues that emerge in discussions of how new technologies and services might develop.

Unplanned development

Development without an overall strategy could lead to under-investment in communications infrastructure and services, perhaps because governments fail to recognise the value of public infrastructure or because corporations are risk-averse or unwilling to finance what might be seen as a public good.

As other countries introduce new technologies and services, Australians will have relatively fewer communications options and reduced access to information. Control of our media will continue to be relatively concentrated, and individuals will have limited opportunities to create and distribute their own material.

Health and education budgets will continue to grow because of the failure to adopt new service delivery opportunities, and services in rural and remote areas will be limited. Access to government services and information will be difficult and costly.

Our businesses will be uncompetitive and our quality of life will suffer. We will become a nation of consumers of other countries' content, culture and technologies.

A technology-driven approach

In contrast, we could seek to implement new technologies at any cost. If this were the case, investment would be driven by the availability of technologies rather than the needs of consumers or demand for services.

Many existing services would be replaced by electronic services, resulting in reduced social and community interaction. Those without computer skills or who cannot afford consumer equipment would become isolated by their lack of access to information and services. Classes of information 'haves' and 'have-nots' would emerge.

Privacy would be eroded by lack of controls on the storage and use of personal data and the use of new technologies to monitor citizens. Electronic junk mail would flood the networks. Computer billboards containing pornography and graphic violence would be easily accessible.

A user-based approach

We believe that neither of the approaches just described represents an outcome the community would want. Instead, we pose an approach based on developing a new, user-based strategy for communications. Under such an approach, investment decisions are made after consultation with consumers and community groups. Technologies and services will support our social, economic and cultural goals.

In contrast to the current pattern of one-way mass media information distribution, there will be an emphasis on creation and communication by and between individuals and communities. Services will enhance social, business and family interaction.

Training in computer skills will be widely available to the community. Mechanisms will exist to ensure that sectors of the community are not denied access to basic services and information by excessive service charges or network tariffs or lack of access to consumer equipment. Both electronic and personal services will be available.

The design of systems and equipment will reflect ways people are willing to provide electronic access to their homes and businesses. People will have control over the kind of content that is accessible, and when and how it enters their personal space.

The communications society: Principles for implementation

The Group believes that we need to follow a number of implementation principles if we are to reap the benefits of the communications society:

A managed evolutionary approach to infrastructure development and the concurrent development of content and services will deliver results that best meet Australia's economic, social and cultural objectives.
Investment in communications infrastructure should be driven by demand for services and content rather than the availability of technology.
Government should encourage private sector use of broadband applications and adopt a leading-edge role to demonstrate the benefits of broadband services.
The potential impacts of broadband services require a high level of consultation between government, industry, consumers, service providers and network operators in planning the development of infrastructure and services.
Services and technologies should be 'user-friendly' and facilitate social interaction and community participation in the creation of content.
Interactive (as opposed to one-way) services are essential if we are to reap the benefits of broadband services.
Evolution of the existing telecommunications network should recognise that the basic communications service will in the future include a range of enhanced digital services.
Local industry should be encouraged to take advantage of the opportunities presented by development of the network and services.

The evolution of an information infrastructure for all Australians

Australia has a proud history of equitable access across a range of services. Almost all Australians have reasonable access to water and electricity, health and education services. And telephone, postal and broadcasting services have been provided on a uniform-price basis to cities, towns and much of the country.

Underlying this has been the Australian sense of social equity. Many services have been provided to remote areas by cross-subsidies within government programs. This does not mean that the services are uneconomic. The return to the service may be in the form of benefits that cannot be captured by the service provider. Primary industries, for example, may not have been able to make such a substantial contribution to Australia's economy without governments providing access to basic services.

Recently, however, there has been much debate about the future provision of basic services, including:

what should be considered a basic communications service, and will this in time encompass a range of services not currently available?
how can Government best achieve its social objectives in a deregulated environment?
will economic efficiency considerations result in a reduced level of services to 'non-economic' areas and the creation of significantly different levels of service?

Although it is not yet clear that the telephone service will one day be replaced as the basic form of communication, the availability of a collection of information services may at some stage demand that every home has access to a high-capacity two-way data service. Restricted access to interactive health and education services, for example, might severely disadvantage some sections of the population.

During the next decade, the existing telecommunications network and the broadband cable networks currently being established in major metropolitan areas will evolve to offer a range of interactive information and enhanced communications services.

The combination of opportunities created by this range of services - the capacity to communicate with one another, to educate ourselves and gain access to government and cultural information, and to participate as members of 'virtual' communities - will determine how significant communication networks will be for people in the future.

We have the opportunity to build a platform that enables us all to be creators and distributors, to control what information reaches us, and to contribute to community debate unimpeded by editorial control. Services can cater to the needs of the disadvantaged and disabled, young and old, and community and minority groups.

New communications networks will offer access to a collection of services that may be fundamental to full participation in future society. Any discrimination in access to these services, be it based on affordability, geography or whatever, may threaten Australia's egalitarian and democratic foundations.

Managed deregulation of telecommunications has delivered benefits to all sections of the community. But the prospect of rapid change in the communications sector raises the possibility of significant inequalities in access to services. A managed evolutionary approach to development of Australia's information infrastructure will maximise investment efficiency and minimise the prospect of uneven distribution of benefits.

A diversity of technologies

The next decade will see the introduction or expanded use of a number of technologies: satellite, microwave, asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL - video transmission over existing telephone lines), assorted mobile services, digital broadcasting systems, as well as optical fibre and coaxial cable, individually or in hybrid forms. Different technologies will be chosen for different areas, depending on the terrain, the population density, the coverage required, and the type of service being delivered.

This diversity and the continuing rapid development of the technologies make it almost impossible to be prescriptive about which technology should be used in any particular circumstance. But they do give grounds for hope that at some time in the future most services could be economically delivered to most areas, whether through cable, a local wireless transmitter, or a domestic or international satellite. Timing and costs are dependent on unpredictable rates of technology refinement: the economics of service provision can change dramatically with each new development.

The existing telephone network, too, is being continuously upgraded. Over half the network already has digital capability. In the next five years, such capacity will be installed throughout Australia, providing almost universal access to enhanced digital services.

Existing telephone connections already enable databases to be explored, low-resolution video services to be transmitted, interactive information services to be navigated, and bank transactions to be performed. Upgrades to digital networks will enable this to be done better. This capability to send and receive information from anywhere in the world means that in many ways the communications age is already upon us.

Pay television will soon be available through cable, satellite and microwave networks now being established. At some stage, the cable and telephony networks are expected to merge, allowing the two-way transmission of video and other high-data-rate services.

The cost of providing broadband capability to all Australians has been estimated at between $25 and 40 billion. The Group believes it is not feasible to consider expenditure of this size in the near future for two main reasons:

The technologies needed for such a network are not fully developed.
Further detailed analysis and evidence of the potential benefits of broadband networks is necessary before the expenditure can be justified.

The Group does consider, however, that many of the benefits of broadband services can be realised in the near term if provision of services to the community is accelerated through connections to schools, hospitals, libraries and community centres. These connections will enable students to gain access to worldwide reference material, hospitals to send medical data to specialists for immediate analysis, and the public to gain access to a range of on-line government and information services.

The evolutionary path: a multi-faceted approach

The Group proposes that the managed evolution of the communications infrastructure in Australia be based around three concurrent and continuing processes:

commercial investment in communications infrastructure, encouraged, where appropriate, by competition in the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors. The range of services available will be expanded, local content encouraged, and a broadband services industry established in a climate that supports the continued development of projects such as those already emerging: the Telstra, Optus and other proposed broadband networks; satellite and microwave services, ADSL, and digital broadcasting systems. Consideration should, however, be given to establishing mechanisms to ensure equitable access to a range of services;
upgrading existing networks, with attention to network and service availability and affordability;
government provision of enhanced communications links to schools, hospitals, libraries and community centres, to ensure widespread access to new services, and the availability of training to ensure that people are able to use the services.

Looking to the future

In the interim report, we said that we were adopting a 10 year time frame. Within this time, we expect a vibrant interactive services industry to have been established in Australia. We cannot confidently say that every home, school and business will have a broadband connection by this time, but we do expect that the many elements of a broadband services industry - creation of content, packaging of services, consumer equipment, training and education of consumers - will have seen sufficient progress to position Australia among the world leaders in creating and using new communications services. If so, Australia will be well prepared for the twenty-first century.

In the years ahead, and as the matters raised in this report are reviewed, several issues will need further consideration:

the evolving role of communications services in achieving broad social and cultural policy objectives, including access, basic service and social equity issues;
how to generate savings through efficiencies in government service provision, especially in the health and education sectors, and improved service quality;
whether the commercial sector will provide an appropriate level of investment and what government can do to encourage investment;
business efficiency, international competitiveness and capacity to export will increasingly depend on access to quality communications services;
the building of an open-access 'public space', connecting government agencies, the business sector, cultural institutions, community groups and individuals.

The coming decade will see continued growth in trading of information products and services. Globalisation of markets will result in fundamental restructuring of many industries and the creation of global company networks through which tasks and projects are allocated around the world. Some industries will support isolated pockets of expertise; others will need an extensive local infrastructure to develop the critical mass necessary to establish a self-sustaining national industry.

The 'convergence' phenomenon brings together the telecommunications, broadcasting and computing sectors, but it will affect a far greater range of industries. Integrating the disparate cultures of these industries will present considerable challenges: we are familiar now with announcements of mergers, joint ventures and new consortia designed to bring together the range of skills, program material and control of delivery channels necessary to secure a dominant role in the multimedia environment.

For Australia, we believe that some industry development issues may warrant special attention. One is content creation and distribution, which enables cultural values to be expressed and a national identity to be reinforced. In many creative fields, Australia has world-renowned artists producing works portraying uniquely Australian values.

We need to foster an environment in which all Australians can explore our museums, libraries and art galleries, gain access to archival footage, watch Australian programs, and create and distribute their own material reflecting contemporary Australian life.

We already have established industries in many creative fields. In others, such as multimedia products, we are very much in the early stages. We need to nurture the skills to build a viable industry. But we also need to develop the links between the elements of the broadband service delivery chain so that we can convert our skills into services available to all Australians, and for export, by electronic means.

The remainder of this report presents the Group's ideas on how it sees Australia managing the transition towards the communications society. It looks at the evolution of the physical infrastructure, the ways we can ensure that we all benefit, and what might be done so that our own cultural life is reflected in the services we use.

The Group sees the communications infrastructure not as a collection of wires and satellite dishes and computers, but as a platform to support a vibrant and equitable cultural and social life, efficient businesses, and communication with each other and the rest of the world. Rather than imposing itself on us, the communications platform offers us the opportunity to create the sort of society we want to live in.

The One Stop Statistics Shop

The aphorism 'you can do anything with statistics' may be a cliche, but it may become the slogan for a new electronic service from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). It's not surprising, in the information age, to find the ABS in the vanguard as an information provider. Now its Information Warehouse is making ABS data, and that of other government agencies, available in an accessible and highly useable electronic form.

At its heart is a 'data catalogue' which provides details of topics, populations, geographical areas, classifications and keywords. It also drives powerful tools which can be used to access the specific information required and present it in a form desired by the user. The system will be available on existing communications networks, however it will move to higher bandwidth links as the volumes of data, speed of computer equipment and demand increase.

The potential for the system covers not just other government agencies, it also represents benefits for students and business. For example, a potential shop owner searching for a location for a specialty store could access demographic data to determine population density, incomes and other retail outlets. The resulting information could be invaluable in ascertaining the likelihood of their business being a success.

The ABS Information Warehouse is an example of computer technology being harnessed to add value to the service provided by the Bureau. It has also shown potential to win export income with the recent award of a contract with the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Secretariat. In partnership with a Singaporean firm it will install a version of the Information Warehouse into APEC's communications network. Other opportunities, involving public and private organisations, are being explored.

Document ID: 7872 | Last modified: 6 February 2008, 2:02pm