Google experimental fibre network

Google announced last week that it was planning to trial 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home to between 50,000 and 500,000 people. Much like Australia's NBN, suggested applications were 3-D medical imaging for rural health clinics, downloading high-definition films and collaborative education with 3-D university lectures. Google issued a request for information (RFI) for local government and the public. This was intended for the USA, but I sent a nomination for City Edge in Canberra anyway.

Wide Beam High Gain 3G Antenna

George Bray mentioned he has got good results using a G Spotter Antenna for 3G wireless access. This antenna costs about ten times as much as the Panorama Data Card Antenna I have and I wonder what is in the black box of the G Spotter.

NBN Wholesale Services Definition

The Communications Alliance are have released National Broadband Network Wholesale Service Definition Framework - Ethernet (December 2010, PDF, 2318 KB) National Broadband Network Reference Architecture - High Level Architecture Options for the NBN (January 2010, PDF, 887 KB). To discuss some aspects of these there is an ATUG 2010 NBN Wholesale Services Definition Framework Forum in Sydney and Melbourne.

NBN Passive optical network

NBN Co, who have the job of building the National Broadband Network for Australia, plan to use a passive optical network, in particular GPON or ITU-T G.984. This reduces the amount of electronics needed in the network, reducing the cost and increasing the reliability. It also allows the speed of the network to be increased by replacing relatively few electronic components and not changing the optical fibre. In addition it reduces the number of fibres which have to be run long distances.

The passive optical network uses optical splitters to divide the signal on one optical fibre so it can be distributed to several dozen homes (up to about 100). Each home gets the signals sent to all homes, so encryption has to be used for privacy. Data sent from the homes is sent with a multiple access protocol,, with each sharing some of the fibre capacity.

It is not clear from the planning documents, but hopefully multicasting will be supported by the passive part of the network. That is for sending the same data to many people, for example for digital TV, the one optical signal will be sent to all houses, rather than sending multiple copies of the same thing to each house.

NBN Broadband Plan

NBN Co have issued "NBN Co consultation paper: proposed wholesale fibre bitstream products" (21 December 2009) . Written submissions are invited by 12 February 2010 and Industry Briefing Sessions will be held in Sydney and Melbourne, on 20 and 29 January 2010. \

The paper is 27 pages (2.6Mbytes of PDF). It is very precisely, but clearly written. There are well executed technical diagrams. Of particular note is the diagram for "Fibre Serving Area – Indicative Access Infrastructure" illustrating the relationship between Multi Dwelling Units, Internal Fibre and Optical Network Termination. The only suggestion for improvement I could make is for NBN Co to produce a web version.

Of note:

1. NBN Co plans to provide Ethernet: "It is NBN Co’s view that the Layer 2 products for mass-market fibre services should be based on Ethernet delivery, utilising GPON as the physical access technology. Please note that NBN Co has yet to define Layer 2 offers beyond the mass-market."
2. NBN Plans support for voice, video and other QoS sensitive applications, with 4 classes of service.
3. A Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) is being considered with an Analogue Telephone Adapter (ATA) integrated within the Optical Network Termination (ONT).
4. In its consultation process NBN Co. specifically mentions the Communications Alliance: "... NBN Co will continue to collaborate with industry as part of the Communications Alliance process."
5. NBN Co intends to support multi-cast protocols, which allows for broadcast like services for IPTV and digital radio: "As NBN Co intends to deliver a multi-cast capability, some Layer 3 awareness will be required within the NBN to support the delivery of IPTV services."
   

Some excerpts from the paper:

Contents

1. Introduction 3
2. Building a fibre access network 6
3. NBN Co’s overall product objectives 8
4. Choice of layer in the vertical technology stack 9
5. High level technology standards 12
6. Location of Points of Interconnect for NBN Co wholesale fibre network 14
7. NBN Co wholesale fibre bitstream products definition 17
8. Important product elements 20
9. Conclusion and next steps 24

1. Introduction Background
NBN Co’s role is to realise the Australian Government’s vision for the development of a next generation national broadband network. To do this successfully, we need to consult widely to ensure our plans for the network meet the current and future needs of our wholesale customers and the wider Australian community.

This Consultation Paper:

• sets out the conceptual framework that will underpin the development of our proposed wholesale fibre bitstream products
• focuses on the 90% of premises that are expected to receive high speed broadband services through fibre to the premises (FTTP) technology.1 It does not consider wholesale product offerings over wireless or satellite networks
• outlines our current thinking on the design of the NBN Co fibre network and the wholesale bitstream products to be provided over that network
  

In particular, this paper will discuss:

• the objectives that will underpin NBN Co’s development of its fibre wholesale products
  
• the level in the vertical technology stack in which NBN Co intends to offer its fibre wholesale products
• the high-level technology standards on which NBN Co will build its network
• NBN Co’s proposed policy for determining the location of Points of Interconnect (PoIs)
• an overview of the two fibre wholesale products that NBN Co intends to initially offer to its wholesale customers
• the service features that are intended to be supported by NBN Co’s wholesale fibre products

This Consultation Paper does not attempt to outline the full details of NBN Co’s proposed wholesale fibre products, nor does it describe the various pricing structures of those products. The price structure of our wholesale fibre products will be presented to the industry during NBN Co’s consultation program that will take place in early 2010.

1 Note that in some deployment scenarios (e.g. Multi-Dwelling Units or MDUs) fibre will be delivered to the premises and distribution of services to individual units or service locations will occur via internal building wiring. The details of the MDU solution are not contained in this Product Consultation Paper.

Summary of NBN Co’s proposed wholesale fibre products

• NBN Co plans to offer a wholesale Layer 2 bitstream product – in doing so, NBN Co will seek to occupy as small a footprint as possible in the overall value chain, leaving retail service providers (RSPs) with significant ability to innovate and develop new services in the higher levels of the value chain.
• The location of PoIs will be optimised to support healthy competition among RSPs and align with contestable backhaul. For more densely populated areas, such as urban and regional centres, a “local” Point of Interconnection (PoI) is will be established for each Fibre Serving Area (FSA),2 while for less densely populated areas, a “district” PoI (which aggregates two or more FSAs together), will be established. If competitive backhaul is not available from a PoI, supplementary provision of backhaul may be required for a limited period of time to permit the emergence of competitive backhaul on these routes. Only one PoI will be available for any FSA. The number and location of PoIs is still to be determined.
  

NBN Co will offer its wholesale Layer 2 bitstream product in two forms:

• the ––Local Ethernet Bitstream (LEB) product will provide our wholesale customers with a Layer-2 access service between the Optical Network Termination (ONT) at an end-user premises and a “local” PoI, located at the Fibre Access Node for the relevant FSA. The LEB product is likely to be offered in capital cities and regional centres. It is envisaged that the LEB product will be made available in respect of the significant proportion of FSAs in Australia.
• the–– Aggregated Ethernet Bitstream (AEB) product is likely to be offered in rural areas where there are no competitive backhaul services below the PoI. The AEB product enables aggregated access to one or more FSAs via an aggregated link. The LEB product will not be available in locations where the AEB product is made available.

Both the LEB and AEB products offers will be based on an Ethernet platform, utilising Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) as the physical access technology. The technology will deliver a range of active service features including security and Quality of Service (QoS), as well as IP multicast.

Our wholesale products will support access by multiple RSPs, a range of customer premises • equipment (CPE) and will include an interface for analogue telephony. The detail of how these elements will be presented to our wholesale customers will be discussed in later consultation papers.

2 A Fibre Serving Area (FSA) is defined as the area covered by one or more Passive Optical Networks (PONs) terminating at the same “Fibre Access Node”.

...

2. Building a fibre access network

90 per cent of Australian premises are planned to be served by a fibre access network. While NBN Co is currently undertaking a detailed assessment, planning and design process, to facilitate the consultation program, an indicative configuration of the access network is set out in the
following diagram:

...

4. Choice of layer in the vertical technology stack

... NBN Co considers that a Layer 2 product is most closely aligned with NBN Co’s stated objectives and is most likely to facilitate the achievement of optimum competitive outcomes over the short-to-medium term. Layer 2 products are also most likely to support end-user choice and simplicity, while avoiding the downside risks associated with Layer 3 products, such as a lack of competitive differentiation and limited scope for innovation. ...

5. H High level technology standards

It is NBN Co’s view that the Layer 2 products for mass-market fibre services should be based on Ethernet delivery, utilising GPON as the physical access technology. Please note that NBN Co has yet to define Layer 2 offers beyond the mass-market. ...

2. GPON
Point to multipoint technologies (known as PON – passive optical networks) such as Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON) and Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) provide a shared medium for customers, with only individual fibre tails post the splitter. In contrast, point-to-point optical networks provide customers with a full fibre for their exclusive use. ...

Questions
Do you believe this model will help foster participation by RSPs in less densely populated locations? What other barriers exist to participation by RSP in these locations? How might NBN Co help address them? Do you believe this model allow sufficient space for participation and investment by commercial backhaul players? What concerns may need to be managed? What criteria should be considered when determining whether the currently available backhaul to a particular proposed regional or district PoI is competitive? What criteria should be considered to assess the likelihood of competitive backhaul being developed in the near-term future at a regional or district location where present backhaul options are not yet deemed to be competitive?

7. NBN Co wholesale fibre bitstream products definition

A. The product offering
NBN Co is proposing to initially offer the following two FTTP products to the market:
1. Local Ethernet Bitstream (LEB)
2. Aggregated Ethernet Bitstream (AEB)
Essentially, both products have the same access capability, with the AEB service offering a short-haul aggregation service for those rural and regional areas where contestable backhaul options have not yet emerged. ...


8. I Important product elements

...
Traffic Management & Prioritisation

NBN Co’s product offering will provide QoS options to support voice, video and other QoS sensitive applications (although timing of these options is subject to current assessment). Ethernet and GPON provide the capabilities to support a QoS differentiated product. The LEB and AEB products will support 802.1p identification of Ethernet traffic priority. ...

At this stage NBN Co is planning to support 4 classes of service although it has not been determined when and how all options would become available. They are:

‘Critical’

• Provides guaranteed low levels of delay and jitter
• Suitable for voice and other communicative services. This is the highest priority traffic

‘Expedited’

• Assurances for the levels of jitter and packet loss
• Suitable for video / VOD, including multicast services
• This class provides a second highest priority of traffic

‘Priority’

• Provides a higher level of assurance than the best effort class, with lower probability of delay, jitter and congestion
• Suitable for commercial data services, business grade data services

‘Best effort’

• No performance guarantees
• Suitable for high speed internet
• This is the lowest priority traffic and anticipated to carry high volumes of data with varying levels of performance according to instantaneous congestion

...

Voice Option

As a means to aid transition from current access technologies to the NBN, inclusion of Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) capability is being considered to support legacy telephony services.

It is proposed that this will be achieved via an Analogue Telephone Adapter (ATA) integrated within the Optical Network Termination (ONT). Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) will form the core of the interface definition for this capability. Further details of the implementation of the POTS capability will be released in due course. ...

Multicast

Multicast is a technology whereby content transmitted simultaneously to two or more end users (e.g. IPTV programs) is carried as a single stream as far into the network as possible before being replicated (i.e. divided) and on-forwarded to end-users. Replication may occur at more than one point along the end to end path, resulting in a tree of replicated streams. The multicast technique can achieve significant bandwidth savings for the delivery of one-to-many services.

It is NBN Co’s intention to deliver a multicast capability, which will require the incorporation of some Layer 3 awareness to support its delivery. The details of multicast implementation are still under consideration. ...

Questions
This section outlines key elements of NBN Co’s planned product specification. Are there any other • technical parameters that should be included?
What multicast capabilities have service providers identified? Should the NBN Co access network proxy IGMP functionality and consolidate reporting before passing messages through to the service provider, or do particular services require access to all IGMP communications from all end users? In other words, should NBN Co manage multicast signalling scalability on behalf of the access seekers, or would this unacceptably limit the kinds of multicast services that are being contemplated? How to provide SPs with the ability to confirm connectivity and power? Whether standards are required for CPE installation, reporting and management to allow customer • self install, remote CPE configuration and downstream service provisioning? How to ensure continued support for smart grid and other public services such as safety, health and education? How should legacy voice services be provided? The benefits and disadvantages of integrating Pay TV capabilities into the ONT? The merits and disadvantages of an RF Overlay approach towards Pay TV versus an IP multicast approach?
Should battery backup capabilities, for the purpose of maintaining POTS (or optionally, data) • connectivity for a limited period of time following a power outage, be offered to end users at the time of ONT installation and should the choice be optional? How can the environmental costs be responsibly managed and how can the costs appropriately shared between end users and their chosen RSPs? How can end users be best educated to make an informed choice? ...

From: NBN Co consultation paper: proposed wholesale fibre bitstream products, NBN Co, 21 December 2009

Final thoughts on Our Broadband Future

Roger Clarke wrote some "Final Thoughts about the Broadband Future Event" in Sydney last week. For me the event ended on a positive note with Genevieve Bell, on e-Community. It was refreshing to hear ideas about broadband for people to use,
rather than as something done to them.

I started to suffer from conference fatigue on the last day, to the
point that in a moment of inattention I plugged the wrong power supply into my wireless modem and destroyed it.

George Bray wrote in the Link List: "I was able to participate remotely from my beachside cabin ...". In a way he got better access to the event than I did, sitting in the venue (just behind the PM, Minister and assorted dignitaries).

There were power boards and WiFi supplied for the Twiterarty in the fist and last few rows of seats. However, sitting cramped over a 10 inch netbook screen in your lap for hours is not very comfortable. Given that much of the time I was not looking at the live speaker, but instead at my netbook or at the projected image on the big screen in the auditorium, I might as well have been somewhere more comfortable.

There were some advantages being there live, such as the spectacle of Senator Lundy operate a laptop with one hand while Twittering on a smart phone with the other. The coffee and lunch breaks were very high bandwidth networking events. A node of ACS people formed in the centre of the room, grabbing anyone important who wandered past and lobbying them on assorted issues (It was useful to be able to meet the new ACS CEO and President Elect).

It was a little unsettling to wander into a conversation and find the Minister for Communications, the head of the ABC, or the PM part of the discussion.

One frustration I had was that the media were never in the media room, they were wandering around taking part in the discussions. The speakers preparation room was more open that I have seen it at commercial events, with non-speakers allowed to wander in.

Another frustration was the large number of the Link mailing list members present. As everyone else was furiously trying to plug their product or policy proposal, I tried this myself, but people kept saying: "Yes Tom, I read you posting about that on Link".

In retrospect, perhaps I would have been better off sitting in the media or speaker's room at a comfortable desk during the sessions, watching them on screen. Then I could have come out to mingle during the breaks.

The stream sessions did not work so well. The problem was that most of the time was taken up with talks by the panellists. While mostly excellent people and speakers, this was a waste of the limited time. It would have been better to provide the talks online in advance and then go straight to discussions. Also I could not get the Wiki to work at all, despite (or because of) all the user-ids and passwords I had been issued with. As a result I felt I had less ability to communicate by being in the room.

This was an excellent experiment in an Internet enhanced event (not quite as good as the Internet Global Summit).

But perhaps more of the bar camp format could be adopted. There was too much spent on glitz and stage managing. As an example we could have done without the glossy colour program (so glossy you could not scribble notes on it). A sheet of monochrome paper printed at the last minute (so it was up to date) would have done. The expensive looking neoprene
conference satchel was so large it was an encumbrance and does someone at the Department have a rubber fetish? ;-)

Perhaps what is needed is an official event with the important speeches and "fringe" events with the less formal bar camp style discussions.


ps: Technology does have its limits. After the forum I took a 370 bus to King Street to go to a performance of "Cabret" at the New Theatre. In the street I bumped into Chris
Chesher, who mentioned there is a Fibreculture event on Wednesday, about "Freedom and control in the Australian Internet".

Huawei Wireless Modem

Having accidentally destroyed my router by plugging in the wrong power supply, I was considering replacing it with the Huawei E5832 wireless modem. This battery powered pocket size unit is recharged by a USB cable (thus making it difficulty to plug in the wrong charger). The unit is relatively new but has got at least one good review. The advantages of over the usual USB dongle 3G modem are that you do not need to configure the computer for the modem, it has a built in firewall for added protection and can be shared over the WiFi with several computers. Also you can place it in a location for good 3G service away from the computer (perhaps put in a waterproof container on a pole with a solar panel to make a WiFi hotspot).

The disadvantages are that the unit does not have an Ethernet socket, only USB, so it can't be directly plugged into some devices, such as a TiVo and it can only be configured with a Windows PC. Usually a router is configured using a web interface from a host computer, but it seems this unit requires a custom program, which has only been provided for Microsoft Windows. This last restriction perhaps could be got around with some trial and error.

e-Community in Our Broadband Future

Greetings from "Realising Our Broadband Future" forum in Sydney (you can participate online). The event ended on a positive note with Genevieve Bell, on e-Community. It was refreshing to hear ideas about broadband for people to use, rather than as something done to them.

Wireless Our Broadband Future

Greetings from "Realising Our Broadband Future" forum in Sydney (you can participate online). Stephen Wilson, CIO, NSW Department of Education and Training, described how wireless will be provided on school grounds. There seems to be little point in the school sector building a wireless network. Instead, I have already suggested, NBN Co. provide wireless as part of their network.

Tasmanian Open Source e-Learning Materials for Broadband Future

Greetings from "Realising Our Broadband Future" forum in Sydney (you can participate online). Dr Evan Arthur pointed out that their were difficult issues with access to educationally relevant digital materials, such as ABC's archive. One way I suggest the education sector could help of federal funding that such a licence is used. This could start with the funding for e-learning which the PM announced for Tasmania yesterday. The Commonwealth can simply specify the open source licence, such as Creative Commons, to be used. The Tasmanian Government will then be required to comply with that licence in order to receive funding. If done carefully this can also boost the Tasmanian economy by encouraging additional commercial services which can add to the open source.

"In Tasmania, we will invest $4.9 million in the Connected - Any Student, Any School project. This will enable Tasmanian schools to use technologies to offer exciting and innovative personalised learning opportunities - using practical, hands on and local, national and global e-learning programs and services. In the short term, the focus will be on services in the NBN pilot towns of Scottsdale and Smithton, while in the longer term services will be delivered across the whole of Tasmania as the NBN is deployed...."

From: Realising our broadband future, Prime Minister of Australia, 10 December 2009

Making Education Less Boring in Broadband Future

Greetings from "Realising Our Broadband Future" forum in Sydney (you can participate online). The event has broken into streams and digital education one is on the future of higher education with broadband. Speakers are Dr Evan Arthur, Group Manager, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Tom Cochrane, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Technology, Information and Learning Support, Queensland University of Technology and Stephen Wilson, CIO, NSW Department of Education and Training.

Dr Evan Arthur argues that we need to work through the issues of access to digital material for education. This is a harder challenge than the last one he set.

Tasmanian Alternative Broadband Future

Greetings from "Realising Our Broadband Future" forum in Sydney (you can participate online). After the disappointing presentation from David Bartlett, Premier of Tasmania, there was an excellent talk by Jane Bennett, CEO, Ashgrove Cheese in Tasmania. This was the sort of well researched, sober and serious presentation the Premier should have been given. Perhaps he should take up making cheese and Ms Bennett could take over running Tasmania.

Tasmania's Broadband Future

Greetings from "Realising Our Broadband Future" forum in Sydney (you can participate online). Speaking now is David Bartlett, Premier of Tasmania. I have proposed that Tasmania should put its smaller tourism accommodation online, for Green Broadband Jobs, (so that tourists who can't book online instead decide to go to New Zealand) and hopefully this message will get to the Premier. The premier mentioned the trial for "Smart Street" set top boxes. He also mentioned the potential for smart grid technology combined with renewable power. This would be a good application for Tasmania. Unfortunately whoever wrote the Premier's speech did not research it properly. The speech was peppered with inaccuracies, such as the claim that each google search produced 1.5 Grammes of CO2. Also the level of hype in the speech might suit a political rally but was inappropriate for a broadband conference.

Old Media Still Struggling with Our Broadband Future

Greetings from "Realising Our Broadband Future" forum in Sydney (you can participate online). Abigail E. Thomas, Head, Strategic Innovation & Development, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, is talking about how the ABC sees the broadband future. Unfortunately the ABC seems to see this future as little video clips from TV put on a web site. The ABC is making several bold experiments online, but seem to be fixated with old fashioned TV. What the ABC seems to have difficulty with is joining up all the disparate technologies into one current whole. As an example, the ABC is starting to provide radio via Digital Audio Broadcasting, but doesn't provide the same radio via the audio channels already available on digital TV. This would be a very simple to do, but the ABC doesn't do it, perhaps because they see "radio" and "TV" as two separate media.

What ABC needs to do is restructure itself for the new environment: its all bits. The challenge is to work out what business the ABC is in. The convergence of technology would suggest that the ABC is there to collect and create content, which then can be available in the form of text, audio and video. The ABC needs to therefore restructure itself for that environment.

ps: Perhaps I was a little harsh with the ABC. The next speakers were Stuart Tucker, GM Marketing Aussie Home Loans & Iain McDonald, Director, Amnesia. They bored the audience rigid with a tedious history of how Aussie Home Loans uses the web for marketing. Such a presentation might be f interest to marketing executives who had not heard of the web before and were not familiar with its history, but this was a waste of their time and our time at a broadband conference. If this is how Aussie Home Loans think they should do promotion of their business, then this is not a business I would want to invest in.

Getting to Our Broadband Future

Greetings from "Realising Our Broadband Future" forum in Sydney (you can participate online). Speaking now is Senator the Hon. Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. He is arguing that investing in broadband is an investemnt in education, health, the enviornment and regional devlopment. Next is Abigail E. Thomas, Head, Strategic Innovation & Development, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Stuart Tucker, GM Marketing Aussie Home Loans & Iain McDonald, Director, Amnesia. After morning tea is David Bartlett, Premier of Tasmania, Australia and Jane Bennett, CEO, Ashgrove Cheese. I have proposed that Tasmania should put its smaller tourism accomidation online, for Green Boradband Jobs, (so that tourists who can't book online instead decide to go to New Zeland) and hopefully this message will get to the Premier.

Education in our Our Broadband Future

Greetings from "Realising Our Broadband Future" forum in Sydney (you can participate online). The afternoon stream I selected is Digital Education with Greg Moo, CIO, Department of Education and Training, Northern Territory, Craig Foster, Education Director, Microsoft Australia, Andrew Skewes, Executive Director, Bendigo Campus, LaTrobe University, David O'Hagan, CIO, The Learning Place, Education Queensland. Also like the rest of the delegates, I am coming to grips with the Wiki for the event. We have all been invited to contribute. My book of my e-learning course was launched earlier at the event.

The first d-education session was a little disappointing. The low point was a promotional video from Microsoft, with their version of the future. This video was not specific to education (and apparently was being show in one of the other streams as well). I was having difficulty getting the wifi to work, so I could use the Wiki and so went out to the conference technical support desk (The conference has excellent technical support).

At that point I decided to take a break and wandered off for a coffee at the student union. The coffee turned out to be free, as I found I had wandered into a scientific conference. This was at something called the "Eora Exchange", by lahznimmo architects. This was a dropping cyber cafe (with real coffee). There are wall botths which seat about six students, on each side of a table. One the wall at the end of each table is a large computer screen, with a VGA cable. There are five power points available on the wall for laptops and another two points on a pop-up panel in the tabletop. Also there is the UNSW wireless. I felt right at home here and was a little reluctant to go back to the fast pace of the forums. Also I felt I was learning more about d-education from observing this room than I had at the official forum.

ps: I tried to post the following comment to the wiki comments on the forum. But I was unable to enter my user id or get the anti-spam image check to work, so here is my comment. Perhaps someone who can get the wiki to work can add it:

One of the reality checks on digital education is that in many ways broadband will not change education. Many of the fundamentals will be the same. My e-learning course, which Senator Lundy launched the book for this morning at the forum is very hi-tech, but underneath is about old fashioned education. David Lindley, calls this Mentored and Collaborative Online Learning. I have coined the term e-Oxbridge education to describe this.

Education has not changed since Aristotle was teaching: the teacher gives some guidance to the student and then sends them off to explore for themselves, later the student discusses what they found with other students under the guidance of a tutor, the student then explores some more alone or in groups and produces more and more complex analyses, until the tutor and the student think they have learnt enough.

Infrastructure for our Boradband Future

Greetings from the "Realising Our Broadband Future" forum Sydney. Brad Weam, CIO Iron Ore, BHP Billiton is talking about the network used for running iron ore mining in Western Australia to Port Headland. This shows how broadband is literally part of Australian infrastructure. Without the telecommunications, Australia's mining industry would stop. It happens that some years ago I was part of a HQ Australian Defence Force party which visited northern Australia, including Port Headland, looking at how to protect it. While my military colleagues discussed how y satchel charges a terrorist would need to blow up an LNG refinery, I looked at the telecommunications. It would have only needed cutting a few cables to disrupt Australia's major industry. Since then a level of redundancy has been introduced, making a disruption to the system much harder.

Green IT Answers the Challenge of Copenhagen

Opening the "Realising Our Broadband Future" forum Sydney this morning, the Prime Minister, the Hon. Kevin Rudd MP, stated that broadband could reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Australia by 5%. Senator Kate Lundy then launched a new book "Green Technology Strategies" to detail how to do this. saying "I would like to pay tribute to the work of Tom Worthington with his new book and training on the important issue of dealing with climate change".

Tomw Communications Pty Ltd

Media Release

Green IT Answers the Challenge of Copenhagen

Sydney, 10 December 2009, 11:30am: While the climate change conference in Copenhagen struggles, technologists and political leaders are detailing practical answers today in Sydney. Opening the "Realising Our Broadband Future" forum Sydney this morning, the Prime Minister, the Hon. Kevin Rudd MP, stated that broadband could reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Australia by 5%. Senator Kate Lundy then launched a new book "Green Technology Strategies" to detail how to do this. saying "I would like to pay tribute to the work of Tom Worthington with his new book and training on the important issue of dealing with climate change".

The new book "Green Technology Strategies: Using computers and telecommunications to reduce carbon emissions" by Tom Worthington, is available online for free, as well as in printed and e-book download formats: <http://www.tomw.net.au/green/>

The book is about how to reduce carbon emissions and achieve other environmental benefits by using computers and telecommunications technology. It is designed to be used within an online course for professionals, using mentored and collaborative learning techniques. The book is currently being used in masters level postgraduate courses offered by the Australian National University, Open Universities Australia and the Australian Computer Society.

Author and course designer, Tom Worthington, claims that using the techniques of Green IT can reduce greenhouse emissions globally by 25% by 2020. Tom Worthington, an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the ANU said: "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions rewuires us to work cleverer. As the Prime Minister said, technologies such as broadband can make a significant contribution to reducing emissions and boosting economic development.We can grow the economy and save the planet at the same time."

See also:

* Realising Our Broadband Future forum: <http://broadbandfuture.gov.au/participating-remotely/>
* Green Information Technology Strategies (COMP7310), Graduate Studies Select program, Australian National University: <http://studyat.anu.edu.au/courses/COMP7310;details.html>
* Green Technology Strategies, Computer Professional Education Program, Australian Computer Society: <http://www.acs.org.au/cpeprogram/index.cfm?action=show&conID=greenict>
* Green ICT Strategies (ACS25), Postgraduate Program of Open Universities Australia, available from 2010 to students of Curtin University, Griffith University, Macquarie University, Monash University, RMIT University, Swinburne University and the University of South Australia: <https://www.open.edu.au/wps/PA_eBusinessPortlets/Unit-Profile-?year=2010&unitCode=ACS25>

Authorised by, and media contact: Tom Worthington FACS HLM
t: 0419496150 email: tom.worthington@tomw.net.au
Director, TomW Communications Pty Ltd., PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia http://www.tomw.net.au

Media release at: http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2009/12/green-it-answers-challenge-of.html

*** Ends ***

NBN CEO on Our Broadband Future

Greetings from the Realising Our Broadband Future forum at University of NSW in Sydney (you can participate remotely). Mike Quigley, Chief Executive Officer of NBN Co., has been explaining that the National Broadband Network is installing fibre to the premises for demanding applications, such as video. He argued that wireless broadband could not provide this due to limited spectrum (in fact the conference organisers asked deli gates to limit their access o the WiFi in the room). The NBN CEO suggests they will need a couple of KA Band satellites for remote areas of Australia (which brings us back to AusSat). NBN will also provide an analog telephone adaptor.

Most of what Mike Quigley said I agree with. However, wireless devices do not necessarily needs as much bandwidth as fixed devices. When watching video on your mobile phone you need much less bandwidth than when watching on a regular TV. This is because the mobile device has a much smaller screen and so needs less data. Similarly, mobile web applications need less bandwidth because people are busy doing other things when they are out and about. Applications in the "cloud" can summarise the data and present just what the user wants to know then and there. A good example of how this has surprised telecommunications companies are SMS and e-mail. These are very plain text based services which take little bandwidth, but a very popular

In my view, the NBN will need to evolve to incorporate wireless. This might be done at, or near the premises. Under current schemes, the NBN will deliver fibre to the home. The customer will then likely attach a wireless router to the NBN termination. As a result the last 10m of the NBN will be wireless. However, this last 10m, which is the most important to the customer will not be managed by the NBN and will waste capacity. Each premise will have a separate wireless device, which will compete for bandwidth. I suggest that instead the NBN should provide a terminating device with wireless built in. That wireless can then be used by the customer in their own home, but also shared with their neighbours. This will make a cheaper, more resilient system. If the home owner's NBN link fails, they can automatically switch over to use the neighbours. If they need more than one node provides, they can use several. If a smart meter or burglar alarm is installed in their hoe, ti will take no configuration, as it can use the standard wireless. Similar wireless telephony can use the wireless network.

Next is: Jeffrey Cole, Director USC Annenberg School.

Senator Kate Lundy will then be launching my book "Green Technology Strategies" in her speech. But first the Minister for Communications will introduce Kevin Rudd, the Prime Minister.

PM on Our Broadband Future

Greetings from the Realising Our Broadband Future forum at University of NSW in Sydney (you can participate remotely). Senator Kate Lundy. will be launching my book "Green Technology Strategies" in her speech. But first the Minister for Communications will introduce Kevin Rudd, the Prime Minister.

The PM talked about the NBN as the infrastructure for jobs of the 21st century, as the railways were in previous times: "Slow broadband is holding our nation back ... Australians want high speed broadband." The PM quoted a claim that broadband could reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Australia by 5%. The PM announced $26.5M in grants across Australia $2.3M Ambulance mobile connect in SA: mobile terminals in ambulances. $7.5 Health E-Towns. Also $500,000 for bushfire spotting in North East Victoria. $5M Hunter health for telehealth. WA for buhfire prediction and warning services. $4.9M for e-learning in Tasmania at the NBN pilot towns. $4M CDM health project for cronic desease management accross Austrlaia.

The program for the morning is: Opening Remarks: Forum Co-chair - Dr Paul Twomey, Senator, the Hon. Stephen Conroy, Opening Address, Prime Minister, the Hon. Kevin Rudd MP, Mike Quigley, Chief Executive Officer of NBN Co., Jeffrey Cole, Director USC Annenberg School.

Participating in the Realising Our Broadband Future forum

Only a few hundred people can attend the Realising Our Broadband Future forum in Sydney this week. The organisers have therefore arranged for Participating Remotely. Main (plenary) sessions will be webcast and smaller workshop sessions audio streamed. The format for this is simialr to that developed for the Public Sphere events and is explained at Senator Kate Lundy's website.

The twitter hash tag #bbfuture is being used for the event, allowing comments.

Ideas and questions for discussion can be submitted in 'Open to Your Ideas'. This moderated forum accepts short Twitter style comments, plus You Tube video. They can be on of the five discussion streams: Smart Infrastructure, Digital Education, e-Communities, e-Health and e-Business.

Also there will be a Wiki will to bring together ideas, with a separate section for each stream. The audio of the live sessions will also be linked for replay.

There are also some remote venues for live participation, such as Parramatta City Council.

Last night I attended a Google Wave developers session. Wave and similar technologyg ives the prospect of a more unified and easier to understand way to do such collaboration. While instant messaging, video, wikis and web forums provide useful tools, there is a confusing range of different interfaces.

Conference Program Day 1 - Thursday 10 December 2009

0800	Registration Open
Plenary Session
0900	Opening Remarks: Forum Co-chair - Dr Paul Twomey, Senior President of the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers Session chair - Senator, the Hon. Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy
0905	Opening Address, Prime Minister, the Hon. Kevin Rudd MP
0935	Keynote Speaker: Mike Quigley, Chief Executive Officer of NBN Co.
1000	International Keynote Speaker: Jeffrey Cole, Director USC Annenberg School
1030	Morning Tea
Plenary Session
1100	Opening Remarks: Session Chair - Senator Kate Lundy, Senator for the Australian Capital Territory
1105	International Keynote Speaker: Craig Mundie, Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Microsoft
1110	International Keynote Speaker: Vinton G Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist, Google David King, YouTube Product Manager, Google
1130	Keynote Speaker: Samantha Hannah-Rankin, Manager Corporate Development, Australia Post
1150	Keynote Speaker: Dr Nick Gruen, Chair, Government Web2.0 Taskforce
1210	Keynote Speaker: Brad Wearn, CIO, BHP Billiton Iron Ore
1230	Q&A Session with speakers
1240	Lunch Break
Stream Session 1 What are the possibilities
1340	Stream 1 Smart Infrastructure Facilitator - Alan Smart, Senior Consultant/Marketing Director, ACIL Tasman Panelist 1 - Tristram Carfrae, Arup Fellow & Deputy Chair, Global Buildings Board Panelist 2 - Geof Heydon, Director, Market Development & Digital Economies, Alcatel-Lucent Panelist 3 - Chris Althaus, CEO, Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association
	Stream 2 e-Health Facilitator - Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, Visiting Fellow, GP Melbourne's West; Head of Clinical Unit - NEHTA; Former AMA President & Commissioner NHHRC Panelist 1 - Gary Cohen, CEO, iSOFT Panelist 2 - Adam Powick, Deloitte Partner, Technology Panelist 3 - Glen Boreham, Managing Director, IBM Australia
	Stream 3 Digital Education Facilitator - Greg Moo, CIO, Department of Education and Training, Northern Territory Panelist 1 - Craig Foster, Education Director, Microsoft Australia Panelist 2 - Andrew Skewes, Executive Director, Bendigo Campus, LaTrobe University Panelist 3 - David O'Hagan, CIO, The Learning Place, Education Queensland
	Stream 4 e-Business Facilitator - Deena Shiff, Group Managing Director, Telstra Business Panelist 1 - Lisa Colley, Centre Director, Creative Industries Innovation Centre Panelist 2 - Robert Murray, CEO, Firemint Panelist 3 - Darren Alexander, CEO, AuTech
	Stream 5 e-Community Facilitator - Jan Fullerton, CEO, National Library of Australia Panelist 1 - Geoff Anson, Chairman and Co-founder, One Laptop per Child Panelist 2 - Lisa Harvey, CEO, Energetica Panelist 3 - Richard Kimber, CEO, Friendster
1530	Afternoon Tea
Stream Session 2 Reality Check
1600	Stream 1 Smart Infrastructure Facilitator - Dr Alex Zelinsky, Director, ICT Centre, CSIRO Panelist 1 - Ross Carter, Division Head, Department of Environment, Water Heritage and the Arts Panelist 2 - Prof Rod Tucker, Director, Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society (IBES) Panelist 3 - Denis McGee, GM Infrastructure and Security Services, NAB
	Stream 2 e-Health Facilitator - Carol Bennett, Executive Director, Consumers Health Forum Panelist 1 - Dr Chris Pearce, GP and Researcher Panelist 2 - Prof Michael Georgeff, CEO, Precedence Health Care Panelist 3 - Prof Branko Celler, Director, TeleMedCare
	Stream 3 Digital Education Facilitator - Prof Catherine Beavis, Professor of Education, School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University Panelist 1 - Anne-Marie Lansdown, Division Head, Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Panelist 2 - Raju Varanasi, GM, Centre for Learning Innovation, NSW Department of Education and Training Panelist 3 - Heather Watson, Director, The Learning Federation
	Stream 4 e-Business Facilitator - John Grant, Managing Director, Data#3 Panelist 1 - Jim McKerlie, CEO, Bullseye Group Panelist 2 - Daniel Petre, Executive Chairman, netus Panelist 3 - Chris Rodwell, Director Innovation and Queensland Director of the Australian Industry Group
	Stream 5 e-Community Facilitator - Kerry Graham, CEO, Australia Social Inclusion Board Panelist 1 - Frank McGuire, Founder Global Learning Village Panelist 2 - Denis Moriarty, COO, Our Community Panelist 3 - Allan Asher, CEO, Australian Communications Consumers Action Network
1730	Networking Function Hosted by Senator the Hon. Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

Conference Program Day 2 - Friday 11 December 2009

Plenary Session
0900	Day 2 Opening Remarks: Forum Co-chair - Dr Paul Twomey, Senior President of the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers
0905	International Keynote Speaker: Dr Larry Smarr, Founding Director, California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology
0910	Keynote Speaker: Senator the Hon. Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy
0930	Keynote Speaker: Abigail E. Thomas, Head, Strategic Innovation & Development, Australian Broadcasting Corporation
0950	Keynote Speaker: Stuart Tucker, GM Marketing Aussie Home Loans & Iain McDonald, Director, Amnesia
1020	Morning Tea
1040	Keynote Speaker: David Bartlett, Premier of Tasmania, Australia
1100	Keynote Speaker: Jane Bennett, CEO, Ashgrove Cheese
Stream Session 3 Next Steps
1120	Stream 1 Smart Infrastructure Facilitator - Prof Stuart White, Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures Panelist 1 - Dr Brian Boyle, Director, CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility Panelist 2 - Kevin Bloch, CTO, Cisco Australia Panelist 3 - Brendan Morling, Division Head, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government
	Stream 2 e-Health Facilitator - Prof Michael Legg, Chair, Health Informatics Society of Australia Panelist 1 - Prof Rob Evans, Victoria Research Laboratory Director, National ICT Australia Panelist 2 - Rosemary Huxtable, Ag Deputy Secretary, Department of Health and Ageing Panelist 3 - Nigel Milan, National Chief Executive Officer, Royal Flying Doctor Service
	Stream 3 Digital Education Facilitator - Dr Stephen Winn, Senior Lecturer, Special Education/Educational Psychology, UNE Panelist 1 - Dr Evan Arthur, Group Manager, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Panelist 2 - Tom Cochrane, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Technology, Information and Learning Support, Queensland University of Technology Panelist 3 - Stephen Wilson, CIO, NSW Department of Education and Training
	Stream 4 e-Business Facilitator - Dr Bronte Adams, Principal, Dandolo Partners Pty Ltd Panelist 1 - Mike Sibley, GM Online e-Business Services, Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Panelist 2 - Maha Krishnapillai, Director of Government and Corporate Affairs, Optus Panelist 3 - Tim Harcourt, Chief Economist, Austrade
	Stream 5 e-Community Facilitator - Clare Martin, CEO, Australian Council of Social Service Panelist 1 - Brad Wynter, Manager Organisation Support, Whittlesea City Council Panelist 2 - Omar Khalifa, Managing Director, Livewire Panelist 3 - Barry Sandison, Group Manager, Families Group, Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
1300	Lunch Break
Plenary Session
1400	Dr Paul Twomey - Overview of Final Plenary Session
1405	Stream 1 Smart Infrastructure Lead Editor - Alan Noble, Engineering Director, Google Australia
1425	Stream 2 e-Health Lead Editor - Peter Fleming, CEO, National E-Health Transition Authority
1445	Stream 3 Digital Education Lead Editor - Bruce Dixon, President, Anytime, Anywhere Learning Foundation
1505	Stream 4 e-Business Lead Editor - Dr Bruce McCabe, Director, Technology Innovation, KPMG
1525	Afternoon Tea
1555	Stream 5 e-Community Lead Editor - Genevieve Bell, Director, User Experience, Intel
1615	Closing Remarks Senator, the Hon. Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy
1630	Conference Close

Realising Our Broadband Future

The Australian Government is hosting "Realising Our Broadband Future" in Sydney, 10-11 December 2009. Speakers include Mike Quigley (NBN Co), Vinton Cerf (Google), Paul Twomey (Internet Corporation), Kevin Rudd, Stephen Conroy and Kate Lundy (Australian Government) and David Bartlett (Tasmanian Government). The event is free and anyone can register to attend.

The event has five streams, each with a "lead editor":

1. Smart Infrastructure: Alan Noble (Google)
2. Digital Education: Bruce Dixon (Anytime, Anywhere Learning Foundation)
3. e-Community: Genevieve Bell (Intel)
4. e-Health: Peter Fleming (National E-Health Transition Authority)
5. e-Business: Bruce McCabe (KPMG)

The Interim report of the Senate Select Committee on the National Broadband Network questions how far the NBN will extend into regional areas and if there are measures to assess the performance of the NBN . Hopefully this will be addressed at the event.

I will be attended the Digital Education stream of the event> In hope to be able to tell delegates about my Green Technology Strategies e-learning course which is now offered to postgraduates students of eight Australian universities and to launch the companion book of course notes.

National Broadband Network Senate Report

Interim report of the Senate Select Committee on the National Broadband Network has been released. The report questions how far it will extend into regional areas and if there are measures to assess the performance of the NBN . The report is available as a set of web pages and PDF files chapter by chapter and as one reasonably sized PDF file (701KB).

The committee was dominated by opposition Senators, but even so is relatively mild in its criticism of the NBN. There are dissenting reports by the Government Senators and The Greens. The Government Senators concentrate on pointing out how good an NBN would be for the nation and the Greens on how previous government decisions on Telstra have limited current choices.

The issue of coverage in regional areas is an unsolved problem. There is no proven technology which can deliver the same speed in regional areas as in cities at an affordable price.

The Australian Government is hosting "Realising Our Broadband Future", 10-11 December 2009, with Mike Quigley (NBN Co), Vinton Cerf (Google), Paul Twomey (Internet Corporation), Kevin Rudd, Stephen Conroy and Kate Lundy (Australian Government) and David Bartlett (Tasmanian Government). No doubt issues of regional access will be discussed.

Conclusion 1

2.26 The committee is of the opinion that, in order to prevent a difference of measurement modelling, similar to that which occurred with the assessment of the OPEL bid, possibly resulting in a consequential delay to the NBN implementation, it would be beneficial for all stakeholders to know which modelling the department will use to assess the coverage footprint.

2.38 It is the committee's view that it would be an extremely unsatisfactory result for the NBN, such a significant government investment, which has been contributed to by all Australian taxpayers, to reach only a small percentage of a state's geographical area while leaving a very high proportion of rural and remote citizens without access to the NBN.

Conclusion 2

2.42 At the time of this report going to print, neither the department nor the Australian Government had provided any guidance or further clarification of the composition of the 98 per cent NBN coverage footprint. The committee believes that the government needs to provide this clarification to proponents and stakeholders alike to ensure a level of confidence that the significant $4.7 billion funding will benefit in particular those Australians that are already underserved or unserved. Particular attention is required to address the needs of those remote areas that are currently generating a large percentage of Australia's wealth yet are in the most underserviced areas.

Conclusion 3

2.73 The committee believes that submissions received and evidence taken to date strongly support the need for the term 'open access arrangements' to be more clearly defined. The committee calls on the government to provide a clarification of this term, which is critical to encouraging ongoing competition in the industry. This would ensure that there is no potential for a successful bidder to interpret the term to its own competitive advantage.

2.109 The committee acknowledges concerns of affordability and service provision, which have the potential to impact on the long-term sustainability of the NBN operator in providing a viable return of investment.

Conclusion 4

2.127 The committee questions the appropriateness of the timeline for the evaluation of the RFP, believing it will not permit the necessary level of scrutiny by either the Expert Panel or the ACCC to select the successful proponent for the NBN.

Chapter 3

3.48 The committee considers that the government should have provided a regulatory framework within the RFP; this would have provided proponents with greater certainty in building their business case for the NBN, while also providing a legal framework for the assessment of proposals.

Conclusion 5

3.56 The committee concludes that omitting to specify the structure of the new network has caused confusion and uncertainty among potential bidders and industry stakeholders.

3.88 The committee supports the general consensus that any new regulations that underpin the NBN should ensure that any operator/owner of the new network cannot participate in anti-competitive behaviour.

3.112 The committee encourages the government to effectively utilises this historic opportunity for regulatory change.

Conclusion 6

3.124 The committee believes that it is in the interest of the government, the industry and the Australian people to ensure that delays to the timeframe for implementation of the NBN are kept to a minimum. Notwithstanding this, the committee considers that the government should incorporate appropriate and timely opportunities for consultation with the industry on suggested regulatory changes.

Conclusion 7

3.125 The committee also believes that the government could easily remove several avenues of possible legal challenge by incorporating industry consultation into the process, even at this late stage.

Chapter 4

Conclusion 8

4.55 The committee believes that the requirement in the RFP for the NBN design to be based on a FTTN or FTTP platform should be broadened to enable a greater level of technology convergence where this is more appropriate than fibre.

Conclusion 9

4.76 The committee acknowledges the complexity of the deployment of the NBN. However, the committee concludes that the most effective use of this substantial expenditure would be to ensure that those Australian homes and businesses that are currently most disadvantaged should be prioritised for initial deployment of the NBN. That is, areas that are currently underserved or unserved should have broadband deployed first, with infrastructure subsequently rolled-IN towards the cities from those underserved areas, which are generally in regional, rural and remote communities.

Conclusion 10

4.77 The committee concludes that the best model for planning the deployment schedule would incorporate high levels of coordination and ongoing involvement by local and state governments with the Commonwealth Government. This would also provide assurance of support through appropriate regulatory changes within each tier of government.

Conclusion 11

4.78 The committee also concludes that there needs to be a carefully considered transition plan to migrate both existing service providers and their customers to the new network over the five year period specified in the RFP. The aim of this transition would be to ensure that it occurs seamlessly, with a no disadvantage test over the five years and that it minimises the issue of stranded assets and stranded customers.

From: List of Committee Comments and Conclusions, Chapter 2, Interim report of the Senate Select Committee on the National Broadband Network, 26 November 2009 (officially dated for release 2 December 2008).

Tasmanian government to hand out free TiVos

The Tasmanian government is going to pay for TiVo digital set top boxes, so citizens can try out video on demand. In my view this is a waste of public money. There isn't anything new the Tasmanian government will can about broadband from such a trial, which was not already found from systems, such as Transact.

"Premier David Bartlett today joined Hybrid TV CEO Robbee Minicola to launch Hybrid SmartStreet to a national audience. The project is the first of many involving the State Government, which will demonstrate the value of the National Broadband Network to Tasmanian families and businesses. ...

Hybrid SmartStreet is primarily a research project. Participants will be given a TiVo media device which in addition to providing access to high definition TV, will allow access to existing broadband services via Hybrid TV’s CASPA portal. ...

Under the terms of the MoU the Tasmanian Government has committed to covering the access fee for Tastel customers (within the TasCOLT footprint) to participate in the trial, plus the cost of installation and support services. Up to $100,000 has been allocated from within the Department of Economic Development’s existing budget. ..."

From: Premier launches Hybrid SmartStreet, Media Release, Tasmanian Department of Economic Development, Tourism and the Arts, 25 November 2009

Unifying NBN fibre and wireless networks

Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) has announced it a trial of Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile wireless technology in Australia with Optus during 2010. LTE offers up to 340 Mbps, but more significantly should make it easier to integrate with other wireless and wired broadband networks, such as the National Broadband Network. LTE is claimed to be compatible with WiMax broadband wireless, which the Australian government is funding to fill in some urban broadband black spots. LTE uses IPV6 and this could make it easier to provide services across networks without ad-hoc arrangements for levels of service and security. By using the network more effectivly, this might reate a better and cheaper service than by simply adding more bandwith. LTE also has an option for providing TV like services. What is not clear is if it can be adapted to the needs of regional Australia, with a low population density. It may be that CSIRO's "broadband to the bush" could be combined with LTE.

High Level Architecture Options for the NBN

The Communicators Alliance have released High Level Architecture Options for the NBN (October 2009). This is a draft paper for comment by 6 November 2009, as part of a National Broadband Network Reference Architecture. This is a very clearly and concisely written 26 page document. Unfortunately it has been formatted as 552 kbytes of PDF, making it hard to distribute and read.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE 2
2 BROADBAND NETWORK ARCHITECTURE VISION 3
3 BROADBAND NETWORK REFERENCE ARCHITECTURE – FTTP ACCESS 4
3.1 Key Network Domains and Functions 4
3.2 Wholesale Point of Interconnect and Service Boundary Point Scenarios8
3.3 Roles and Relationships between Different Industry Players 10
3.4 Relationship between CPE and Retail/Wholesale providers 12
4 BROADBAND NETWORK REFERENCE ARCHITECTURE – WIRELESS/ SATELLITE ACCESS 14
4.1 Option 1: Layer 2 Ethernet Access 14
4.2 Option 2: Wireless/Satellite Layer 3 IP Access 18
5 FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS 22
5.1 Sustainability 22
5.2 Robustness 22
5.3 Security 22
5.4 IPv6 22
5.5 Future Proofness 22
6 ABBREVIATIONS 23 ...

1. PURPOSE AND SCOPE

This document defines the following:

• The end-to-end broadband network architecture framework, including domains and functions required to deliver a wide range of network services and application/content services to end users.
• A range of potential passive and active NBN wholesale interconnect scenarios. This will be a key input to other Communications Alliance NBN work stream activities, in particular the wholesale services stream. In developing these options there has been some regard to overseas experience where different FTTH wholesale open access models are being adopted by different countries.
• Terminology and definitions for different industry players taking into account a range of possible roles providing Wholesale and Retail services.
• The relationship between the CPE (such as ONT and RG) and Retail and Wholesale Service Providers. ...

2 BROADBAND NETWORK ARCHITECTURE VISION
The next-generation broadband network will enable a wide range of network services and application/content services to be delivered to end users via FTTP, Wireless and Satellite access. Figure 1 shows the end-to-end architecture vision which identifies the different functional and service domains applicable to the provision of Next Generation Broadband Services. The retail network service providers and application/content service providers are those that provide services to end users and have a direct customer relationship with the end users. Wholesale service providers do not have this relationship. ...

3 BROADBAND NETWORK REFERENCE ARCHITECTURE – FTTP ACCESS
The primary form of access to the NBN will be Fibre to the Premises (FTTP). This section describes the end-to-end network architecture for FTTP access.
Figure 2 shows the end-to-end broadband network reference architecture, segregated into a number of functional domains. This architecture is based on the reference architecture defined by the Broadband Forum1 but has been adapted for the specific purposes of this exercise. In particular, the terminology used in this document is not fully aligned with that used by the Broadband Forum. It should be noted that the terminology used in this document will be reviewed and may change in future releases. ...

From: High Level Architecture Options for the NBN, Communicators Alliance, October 2009

National Broadband Network roll-out in Tasmania

This morning I was interviewed on ABC Radio Hobart about the National Broadband Network with a roll-out in Tasmania. This is planned to provide 100 MBPS. Also ADSL2+ and "naked ADSL" have become available. I explained that while the NBN fibre optic network will be offering more capacity, in pratice the up to 24 MPBS of ADSL2+ and 12 MBPS of ADSL+ were more than adequate for ordinary web browsing. The additional speed was only significant for high definition video or medium size business. Also it depends on the entire Internet connection between the home and the web server having a high speed connection (Tasmania just got a new fibre optic cable across Bass Straight). I did not get time to mention that wireless, such as WiMax and G3 provide MBPS adequate for many applications.

Broadband for disabilities $20,000 prize

The Australian Computer Society is offering AU$20,000 in prize money for innovative use of telecommunications technology to assist individuals with a disability. Entries are invited from around the world for papers in the May 2010 issue of the ACS Telecommunications Journal of Australia. The Prize commemorates the disability advocate Christopher Newell.

Hon. Bill Shorten MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Children Services and Disabilities, and Senator Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy in Canberra are launching the "Telstra-TJA Christopher Newell Prize" in Canberra this morning at about 10am.

The Telecommunications Society of Australia, a Special Interest Group of ACS, is delighted to announce the launching of the inaugural Telstra-TJA Christopher Newell Prize by the Hon. Bill Shorten MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Children Services and Disabilities, and Senator Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy in Canberra on 24 June 2009.
The Telstra-TJA Christopher Newell Prize, generously sponsored in 2009/10 by Telstra, will be awarded to the author(s) of the best, original paper offered to TJA (Telecommunications Journal of Australia) by a deadline of 15 January 2010, that demonstrates the tangible benefits that an innovative use of broadband or other telecommunications technology can provide in assisting individuals with disabilities.
This is a truly global competition; entries are invited from around the world. The best entries, including the winning paper or papers, will be published in the May 2010 issue of TJA.

The Judging Panel will be chaired by TJA’s Managing Editor, Professor Peter Gerrand (University of Melbourne), and includes Professor Gerard Goggin (University of Sydney) and Robert Morsillo, Telstra’s Group Manager for Consumer Affairs. Panel members do not vote or provide ratings on entries in which they have any conflict of interest.

The TSA applauds the excellent corporate citizenship of Telstra in sponsoring the inaugural Christopher Newell Prize. The Prize commemorates the late Reverend Canon Doctor Christopher Newell AM, 1964-2008, who was an extraordinary advocate for people with disability in Australia.

For further details on the Rules of the Prize Competition, see here.

From: The new AU$20,000 Telstra-TJA Christopher Newell Prize Competition, ACS, 2009

Australian Government Digital Regions Initiative

The Digital Regions Initiative - Round 1 - Draft Guidelines have been released for comment by the the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. This project will provide A$60M over four years for telecommunications projects to improve education, health and emergency services in regional areas of Australia. The funding is only available to state, territory and local governments. There are other funding programs for community groups and individuals in the Clever Networks program.

Some excerpts from the draft:

Table of contents

1. Digital Regions Initiative
1.1 Introduction
2. Objective
3. Principles
4. Eligibility
5. Funding
5.1 Matching funding
6. Expression of Interest process
7. Application Process
7.1 Information to be included in Project proposals
7.2 Confidentiality
8. Late lodgement
9. Selection criteria
Selection criterion 1: Project outcomes and benefits
Selection criterion 2: Innovative and complementary services
Selection criterion 3: Demand
Selection criterion 4: Technical characteristics
Selection criterion 5: Financial planning and sustainability
Selection criterion 6: Management and organisational structures
10. Assessment process
10.1 Full project proposals
11. Reporting and evaluation
Key performance indicators

1. Digital Regions Initiative

1.1 Introduction

The four year $60 million Digital Regions Initiative comprises $46 million announced as part of the Australian Government’s initial response to the Regional Telecommunications Review and additional funding of $14 million as part of the Government’s Rural and Regional Broadband Network Initiative announced in the May 2009 Budget.

The Digital Regions Initiative will co-fund digital enablement applications to improve services in the key sectors of health, education and emergency services in regional, rural and remote communities across Australia in partnership with state, territory and local governments.

For Australians living in regional, rural and remote locations, improving service delivery through the use of innovative digital enablement technology will:

• leverage the potential of the Australian Government’s significant investment in the National Broadband Network

• further stimulate Australia’s digital economy

• create employment opportunities in local communities

• develop skills and help to retain professionals in local communities.

The Digital Regions Initiative will support projects which will deliver innovative and sustainable services such as those that will:

• boost innovation in healthcare by enabling services such as remote consultation, diagnosis and treatment in areas where there are specialist skills shortages

• extend digital education services to enable more regional, rural and remote communities to access improved educational opportunities

• increase the use of digital technologies to improve emergency and disaster response both within and across state and territory borders.

2. Objective

The objective of the Digital Regions Initiative is to co-fund innovative digital enablement projects supporting improved health, education, and emergency services in regional, rural and remote communities.

3. Principles

The Digital Regions Initiative will co-fund digital applications projects that meet the objective by:

• being positioned to leverage the opportunities that will be created by the National Broadband Network

• targeting gaps in essential services delivered to regional, rural and remote communities

• expanding successful digital enablement initiatives of state, territory or local government, including those funded by the Clever Networks program into other regions, cross jurisdictionally or nationally

• using proven and tested concepts and models of improved and innovative service delivery including those developed by Clever Networks projects, in new regions, cross jurisdictionally or nationally

• supporting innovative approaches to digital service delivery based on best practice developments from nationally recognised Information and Communications Technology (ICT) research and development activities

• aligning with national policy approaches in the delivery of health, education and emergency services with a particular emphasis on benefiting regional, rural and remote communities.

4. Eligibility

Successful projects under the Digital Regions Initiative will be selected through a competitive process. Applications for funding under the Digital Regions Initiative Round 1 may be made by state, territory or local governments.

Where more than one government entity is seeking funding for a project proposal, a lead entity must be nominated as the applicant seeking funding on behalf of all other entities (or project partners) that will contribute to the proposed project.

Entities eligible to apply are:

• state and territory government departments and agencies

• state and territory owned business enterprises

• local government

• local government business enterprises

• business enterprises or other entities jointly owned by state and territory governments and local governments, e.g. new entities or entities owned by and represent a group of state, territory or local government entities, or

• local government and municipal associations.

Note: Project partners may also include not-for-profit and private sector organisations. However, the lead entity submitting a project proposal under the Digital Regions Initiative funding must be one of the entities listed above. If successful, the lead entity will receive Digital Regions Initiative funding and will have the responsibility of implementing the project and meeting the obligations.

5. Funding

The Digital Regions Initiative will make available up to $53.4 million over two funding rounds. The first competitive funding round will call for expressions of interest to be lodged by 31 August 2009. The intent of the expression of interest process is to provide potential applicants with the opportunity to collaborate with other projects, either within their jurisdiction or to strengthen their application through cross-jurisdictional linkages. These will be published on the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy website (www.dbcde.gov.au). Full project proposals are to be lodged by 30 September 2009.

The Digital Regions Initiative seeks to co-fund comprehensive proposals which facilitate service delivery in the key sectors of health, education and emergency services through innovative digital enablement technologies. Collaborative projects between state entities and cross-jurisdictional entities are encouraged to maximise the effective use of those technologies. Proposals must also be positioned to work with, and take advantage of, the fast broadband that will be delivered through the Australian Government’s National Broadband Network. Further information on the National Broadband Network can also be found on the Department’s website (www.dbcde.gov.au).

The range of Australian Government funding that may be provided for a particular project under the Digital Regions Initiative Round 1 is $2–7 million (GST exclusive). Applicants proposing projects that are multi-jurisdictional or have a national focus may seek a higher level of funding.

Funding will only be provided to innovative, high-quality projects that are closely aligned to the objective and principles outlined in these guidelines. Applicants are expected to provide a clear strategy to ensure ongoing financial viability of their project. Funding will not be provided to support the continuation of existing projects.

Digital enablement project funding will be provided to enable service delivery. It is not intended that funding be used for establishing fibre linkages but essential equipment that is required for service delivery will be funded.

Projects may include the following types of activities:

• digital technology applications

• costs associated with the introduction of digital applications

• enhancement to capabilities of existing network infrastructure

• network engineering and improvements that ensure an efficient and effective network

• associated capital equipment (servers, network hubs and connectivity elements).

Applicants should note that funding for successful state and territory government proposals will be provided through a National Partnership Agreement on the Digital Regions Initiative.

Successful local government proposals will be required to enter into a separate funding deed for each project with the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.

The Digital Regions Initiative will run until 30 June 2013. Projects funded under the Initiative must be completed before 31 December 2012 to allow time for final project reporting and a final evaluation of the Initiative.

Note: The Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy reserves the right to amend these guidelines for Round 2 funding.

5.1 Matching funding

Matching funding is required for all Digital Regions Initiative projects. Where an applicant is seeking funding on behalf of more than one agency or jurisdiction, all parties must contribute resources to the project. Total contributions from sources other than the Australian Government must at least match the Digital Regions Initiative Round 1 funding. Contributions from parties from any activity primarily funded by the Australian Government cannot be used as matching funding.

Activities that are primarily funded by the Australian Government are not precluded from being part of a project. However, contributions from any such activity would be disregarded for the purpose of assessing whether the application complies with the matching requirement for contributions from other sources.

Cash contributions will be considered more favourably in the assessment process. Other contributions must be valued at a specified current market rate. Other contributions may include property, equipment, services, personnel time, project management and professional advice. Any specified contributions must be needed to fulfill the project’s goals and objectives and must be applicable within the timeframe of the project.

For the purposes of assessing matching funding, the Australian Government will use a nominal value for staff who devote 100 per cent of their time to the Digital Regions Initiative project (covering salary, on-costs and overheads, per annum) as follows:

• program leader/senior manager $170,000

• project/team leader/manager $108,300

• other (support staff, e.g. technical, administrative) $ 67,500

Large capital items must be valued proportionally to the usage by the Digital Regions Initiative project and based on the running costs and depreciation of the capital item.

Valuations of existing intellectual property will be not considered as matching funding.

9. Selection criteria

Applicants for Digital Regions Initiative Round 1 funding should address their project proposals against the selection criteria listed below.

In responding to these selection criteria, applicants should have regard to the Digital Regions Initiative’s objective and principles and address all requirements of each selection criteria.

Selection criterion 1: Project outcomes and benefits

Applicants must provide a clear description of the key sector(s) (health, education and emergency services) being targeted and how their project outcomes will improve the delivery of services in that key sector(s).

The description of the project’s intended benefits should include the potential social and economic benefits for service end-users resulting from its implementation and any likely impact of the services for other organisations and/or the wider community.

Responses should detail how the project will work with and take advantage of the fast broadband that will be delivered through the Australian Government’s National Broadband Network. As well, they should address how the project will leverage other national, state, territory or local government priorities including digital enablement initiatives.

Applicants should also clearly identify whether the project expands and/or replicates successful Clever Networks, state, territory and local government projects or models of innovative service delivery.

Selection criterion 2: Innovative and complementary services

Applicants need to clearly describe how the project will address national, state, territory and/or local government priorities in relation to service delivery issues in regional, rural and remote Australia for the key sector(s) being targeted:

Projects with an eHealth-related component must clearly show alignment with the National eHealth Strategy. Responses should clearly show that projects are capable of being implemented in compliance with National eHealth policies, business requirements, systems architectures and standards (or updates thereof) endorsed by national e-health governance bodies, or issued by the National eHealth Transition Authority (NEHTA) or the Australian Government as required.

Projects targeting the education sector which specifically include schools, should contribute to national educational objectives as set out in the Digital Education Revolution (DER) Strategic Plan and Implementation Roadmap. The DER aims to contribute to sustainable and meaningful change to teaching and learning in Australian schools that will prepare students for further education, training and to live and work in a digital world. Responses should indicate how the project will contribute to these objectives.

Projects that focus or include the emergency services sector should complement Australian Government emergency service initiatives.

Applicants need to outline how the project’s service delivery model is innovative and how it is distinguishable from other applications and services already commercially available.

Selection criterion 3: Demand

Applicants need to clearly establish the level of demand for their project including how demand will be sustainable or increase over time.

This will include the approximate number of service end-users to benefit from the project and level of support for the initiative from communities, users and relevant agencies.

In outlining the level of demand, applicants will need to identify the region(s) in which the project services will be delivered (including key population centres). Applicants should also identify why such services are currently not being provided, and are unlikely to be provided, in the targeted communities in the near future without Digital Regions Initiative funding.

Selection criterion 4: Technical characteristics

Applicants need to clearly explain key technical characteristics of their proposal, in particular, the digital enablement technology to be used and how it will meet user expectations and requirements. No single technology will be favoured in the assessment of project proposals.

As well as a maintenance strategy, issues which need to be covered by the proposal include: project scalability, adherence to relevant standards, access conditions and protocols, the level of interoperability with other networks, functionality, security, upgrade and redundancy.

Selection criterion 5: Financial planning and sustainability

Applicants are required to include a financial plan which outlines the financial strategy, viability and sustainability of the project, including the level and nature of funding from sources other than the Australian Government.

Budget and expenditure details are required to be entered into the Budget and Expenditure template as part of the online application process.

This template will capture information pertaining to the proposed project cash flow, expenditure and income and will clearly identify contributions being made by the applicant and/or other project partners.

Applicants will also need to include signed letters of commitment as evidence of contributions being made from parties other than the applicants. Facility to upload these documents will be available as part of the online application process.

Applicants should also identify and confirm their ability to ongoing service delivery after Digital Regions Initiative funding ceases to demonstrate the ongoing sustainability of the project.

Note: Applicants must at least match the funding requested from the Digital Regions Initiative as outlined in 5.1 of these guidelines. ...

Selection criterion 6: Management and organisational structures

Lead applicants must provide details of the organisational structure and management team to undertake their project, particularly the individual expertise and previous achievements of individual members. This should include:

• an organisational diagram showing the relationship between the lead project, other members of the consortium and any other relevant organisations

• a clear outline of the governance arrangements for the implementation of the project

• full corporate ownership details of all members of the project partners

• curriculum vitae (maximum of two pages) and the contact details of two referees for each member of the management team.

Responses must include the percentage of time that the manager or management team will devote to the management of the Digital Regions Initiative project. It must also include details of major projects of a similar nature or recent accomplishments of each member or the team collectively.

Details of major projects should include the following:

• a description of the project and contribution made by the organisation to the project

• an outline of performance under the project contract(s) (including milestones, budget and key performance indicators, as applicable)

• the total (combined) dollar value of the project and the manner in which it was funded

• the contract start and end dates

• at least one referee, which should include the counter-party to the project contract(s), including an explicit authority for the Australian Government to approach these individuals and be provided with full information regarding project performance.

Where the relevant project(s) included funding from any level of government, the following details must also be supplied:

• contract title and number

• contract (or project) name and number and relevant agency (if not the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy)

• contact details for at least one referee, which should include the project manager from the relevant agency, including an explicit authority for the Australian Government to approach these individuals and be provided with full information regarding project performance.

Applicants will also need to tender a robust and achievable project plan addressing implementation issues, deployment timeframes and risk management measures. In particular, applicants should give assurances that the project will be completed on or before 31 December 2012.

Note: Final reports and financial acquittals will be required before 31 March 2013.

If more than one entity is involved in the carriage of the proposed project, the applicant will need to indicate who they are, what role they will play, and where each partnering entity fits within the project’s governance framework, including reporting, decision making and organisational structure/management team.

Note: Facility to upload documents related to this criterion will be available as part of the online application process. ...

Key performance indicators

Key performance indicator 1: The extent to which regional, rural and remote communities are positively impacted by Digital Regions Initiative.

Examples of measures by sector:

• Number of communities that have benefited from funded projects

• Name and classification (regional, rural or remote under the Australian Standard Geographic Classification—ASGC) of communities that have benefited from funded projects

• Number of projects completed on time

• Description of benefits and impacts on communities.

Key performance indicator 2: Improvements in the delivery of health, education and emergency services enabled by digital technologies supported by Digital Regions Initiative projects.

Examples of measures by sector:

• Description of service delivery benefits for the sector

• Growth (number and description of new services/enhanced access, by technology type and speed) of services delivered by the Digital Regions Initiative

• Description/impact of improved digital communication applications and service delivery outcomes for client groups (e.g. radiologists, teaching professionals, students, emergency response workers)

• Description of the qualitative effects on regional, rural and remote communities

• Description of how the digital enablement technology has benefited the sector.

Key performance indicator 3: Extent to which Australian Government investment is leveraged by Digital Regions Initiative projects.

Examples of measures by sector:

• The level of investment by project partners as a result of funded projects.

• The level of investment by parties external to the consortia.

• Description of how the project expands or replicates other government projects or models of service delivery.

• The number and type of additional activities/enhanced access to applications that have occurred beyond the scope of funding agreements.

• Description of additional benefits achieved by projects through the opportunities created by the National Broadband Network.

• The level of additional investment that has occurred beyond the scope of funding agreements and as a result of funded projects.

• Description of how the longer term sustainability of the project will be assured. ...

From: Digital Regions Initiative - Round 1 - Draft Guidelines, Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, 15 June 2009