Date: 

Event: Broadband: serious business

Are we moving at last beyond the continuous policy committees, into the serious business of robust, viable, broadband services? Do we have the right settings to attract investment? Are the industry structures and regulation up to the task? When will the major uses in health, education, and public services reach critical mass?

The purpose of this seminar was to spread as much knowledge as possible about the progress of broadband, and the prospects for extending it rapidly to the whole business and consumer population.

Examples of the issues discussed are: plans for infrastructure competition, especially at the State level;  economic benefits from increasing broadband usage;  benefits from telecoms convergence with media and information industries; whether demand aggregation is more than a nice idea, and whether its management is a role too complex for governments; wireless and nomadic access alternatives; and a review of the various growth projections from the OECD, ACCC, Telstra, ATUG and other sources.

To read discussion openers comments from the seminar click on the links below:

Session 1 (9:30-11:00) STATE OF PLAY

• The numbers, graphs and growth projections
• OECD, ACCC, Telstra, ATUG etc: whose projections should we believe?
• What basis is there to plan investment?

Scott Ryall, Analyst, Macquarie Research Equities
Chris Atkins, Partner, Comms & High Tech Strategy, Accenture
Paul Paterson, Director Regulatory, Telstra

Session 2 (11:20-1:00) FRESH APPROACHES: ALTERNATIVES TO THE TRADITIONAL TELCO

• New networks as a dumb (but fabulously beneficial) utility businesses
• Wireless and other access alternatives
• Escaping the techno-specific laws and policies

Professor Peter Darling, Network Insight Institute
Stephe Wilks,ex COO NextGen, XYZed, Optus
Ian McGill, Partner, Allens Arthur Robinson
Laurence Plant, Wireless e-Business Specialist, IBM

Session 3 (1:50-3:20) GOVERNMENT AS LEAD USER

• Plans for infrastructure competition: how long must we wait for service rollout?
• Demand aggregation: is it more than a nice idea?
• Is this role too complex for governments?
• Is tendering too blunt an instrument?

James O'Farrell, Snr Mgr, Implementation and Strategy Development, eGovernment Networks, Multimedia Victoria
Richard Dammery, GM, AAPT Direct & VicOne, AAPT
Colin Griffith, General Manager, Electroinic & Network Services, NSW Govt.

Session 4 (3:40-5:00) NEW SERVICES: USING AND BUILDING BROADBAND

• Is this the once-in-a-generation opportunity?
• How will we reach critical mass?
• What are the economic benefits from increasing usage?
• Benefits from convergence with media and information industries

Phil Sykes, CEO, Request Broadband
Judi Tucker Executive Director, FIBRE
Martin Hoffman, Chief Executive Officer, ninemsn

Click here for full sponsors list.