[clug] Residential VOIP discussion, was Skype on Ubuntu

[Alex Satrapa]

On 6 Oct 2005, at 11:25, Martin Pool wrote:

> Apparently the Telecommunications Act requires access to "digital data
> services" for everyone, whereever they may choose to live.

Digital data services including the ubiquitous dial-up Internet. The  
0198 numbers offered by a number of ISPs are "Data Network Access"  
numbers, where Telstra provides modem services at the exchange, they  
haul Layer 2 traffic back to concentrators, and the ISP takes over  
from there (providing authentication via RADIUS, and providing the  
link to the greater Internet).

> ... I could choose to live as a hermit in the wilderness and
> (it would seem) have the cost of a satellite internet link subsidised
> by ADSL users in the suburbs.  Mm, pork.

That's not my understanding. In the country, just as in the rest of  
Australia, you are guaranteed something like 9600bps (or perhaps  
28.8k these days) data service access. Binalong has great dial-up  
service, with 0198 (0192? I can never remember) access at speeds  
upwards of 50k (the whole town is within 1km of the exchange on  
relatively new copper).

> My feeling is that if people have the choice to have no phone at all,
> then they should have the choice to buy a bad or unreliable phone.

The thing about emergency number access is that the law is trying to  
make the 000 service reliable enough that someone coming to your  
house to rescue you in case of fire/epileptic fit/alien invasion can  
just pick up the phone, hear a dialtone, and dial 000.

"just use your mobile" doesn't cover if for the people who live in  
the 90% of the surface of Australia that doesn't have mobile coverage  
(such as my girlfriend's place out in Binalong, which has no mobile  
service, but I get faster dialup speeds there than in Gunghalin).

Anyway, I'm sure this is getting way, way off topic.

Alex Satrapa             M: +61 4 0770 5332
grail at goldweb.com.au     W: http://homepage.mac.com/alexsatrapa