[Fwd: Re: [clug] stupid Communications ministers]

[David Howe]

> The Communications Minister, Senator Helen Coonan, says Internet speeds
> in Australia are not as slow as Rupert Murdoch suggests.

Well she would have to say that because that is the government line, ie
our broadband connectivity is OK.

She can't very well admit anything else since she has been defending the
governments broadband policy ad nauseum.

>
> Mr Murdoch today labelled Australian broadband Internet speeds a
> disgrace and said the nation was being left behind.
>
> He called on the Federal Government and Telstra to spend up to $12
> billion to improve broadband speeds.
>
> But Senator Coonan says speeds are improving in Australia.

That's a bit misleading. Certainly more people are connecting via ADSL for
example, and that could be represented as "speeds improving" but in Zdnet
in March a Telstra rep defended a policy of capping ADSL @ 1.5Mbit. Of
course Teltra's public position on universal fibre to the node is also
well known.

>
> She has also argued not everyone wants to pay for super fast broadband.
>
> "What we have to understand is that people have got an interest in being
> able to access the services they want on broadband, and very fast
> broadband may be more than people either want to pay for or that they
> need to suit their individual needs," she said.

I totally don't understand what what she is trying to say. I have an
interest in being able to do all sort of things via the public internet
structure, but the questions of access and speeds are should not adversely
impact on my choice of activity, in much the same way as the availability
of a standard electricity supply allows me to choose what I plug in and
how much I use.

Rupert has his own agenda for sure, he is after all a very rich person
with a huge range of media interests. Coonan is probably a little out of
her league, and she has a bad habit of confusing bluster with basic facts.
To be fair universal high speed universal internet access for all
australians sounds a bit like a universal health care which is another way
of saying this government is politically opposed to anything universal,
even taxes. That's what privilege is all about.

zdnet article
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Telstra_holding_customers_back_from_higher_speeds_ISPs_claim/0,130061791,139183860,00.htm

david
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www.qednet.biz




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