What Now for Australia’s NBN?

Australia’s politics, insular policies and categorisation of fixed telecommunications as a natural monopoly have made Australia a global laggard in the provision of broadband services. The return of government ownership of telecoms infrastructure in the form of the National Broadband Network and the continuing lack of investment in fibre infrastructure highlight the political and policy failures.

Hong Kong's Fibre Broadband Market

A look at Hong Kong broadband -- low barriers to entry, aggressive competition, low network build costs, and innovative marketing. Hong Kong has successful rollout of profitable competing Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) across the city, although technical or economic feasibility means 10% to 15% of Hong Kong households do not benefit.

The Australian Telecommunications Regulatory Environment

This article provides an overview of the changing legal and regulatory regime for telecommunications and related services in Australia by charting the changes in regulation from 1901 to the present, and by indicating some of the changes that are still evolving. The article is intended to provide a framework for comparison between regulatory regimes in different jurisdictions, and as the basis for further analysis of the sector.

The Rationale for Universal Access to Digital Services

This paper presents a position and identifies future research necessary to support the transition from the universal service regime to a universal access regime that enshrines the principle of ensuring that federal, state and local egovernment and other specified digital services are reasonably accessible to all, on an equitable basis, wherever they work or live.

Improving affordability of communications

The results of ACCAN?s 2013 Affordability Forum are provided. A joint ACCAN-Anglicare Victoria research project shows that 6% of Anglicare?s clients in Victoria were deprived of all forms of telecommunications and 45% had only had one form of telecommunication service. A range of affordability policy ideas outlined at the forum are dkiscussed, with an emphasis on reforming the universal service obligation in the era of the national broadband network.

Contactability framework for the delivery of universal services

The USO ensures access to voice communication services for all Australians. The obligation has changed very little in comparison to the telecommunications market and consumers? use of services. This presents a number of gaps and risks for consumers, such as data and mobile services. However, updating the obligation to include these services alone will likely fail consumers. This paper argues for a new framework based on a principle of contactability. This new framework will have four key areas...

Who are you going to call?

This paper draws upon a research paper prepared for the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN). The focus of this paper is on the best way to provide every adult with universally available, accessible, affordable and empowering communications. Special attention is given to affordability, leading to a litmus test of an affordable broadband tariff. The paper proposes two options for delivering universal service objectives in future. One does not require any carrier to be...

Better telecommunications services for all Australians

The Universal Service Obligation (USO) scheme in Australia today is 25 years old. This paper shows how the current USO entrenches an annual subsidy of some $300M to Telstra. The current expensive USO scheme is inadequate and in the light of modern developments in broadband and mobile. The paper reviews the approach taken to across the world and draws lessons for a way forward to establish a Universal Service Fund (USF) where the NBN is the Universal Infrastructure wholesale provider with...

It?s Time: Reimagining Universal Service for Digital Life

This article provides a brief introduction to a timely set of papers critically discussing universal service in telecommunications and proposing policy option. This is a longstanding public policy issue, moving once more into the foreground in Australia. The article puts the papers into context, and argues for the need to reconnect universal service policy with fertile and productive research, policy, social and technology innovation in other areas. Finally, the paper argues for the urgent need...

From Universal Service to Universal Communications

The policy of universal service must change. The 1975 world of a government-owned monopoly provider obligated to provide fixed line voice telephony has been replaced by the twenty-first century reality of Australians using fixed, mobile and text communications over a range of communications equipment and services provided by competitive providers. A new universal service must reflect those changed realities, and with it, the changed environment of a national broadband network, with competitive...