Trajectories of broadband : the coming, going and return of broadband

As the paper’s subtitle suggests broadband has had a remarkably checkered trajectory in Australia. It was synonymous with the early 1990s information superhighway and seemed to presage a moment in which “content is [to be] king”. It disappeared almost entirely as a public priority in the mid to late 1990s as intrastructure and content were disconnected in services frameworks focused on information and communication technologies. And it came back in the 2000s as a critical infrastructure for innovation and the knowledge economy. But this time content was not king but rather an intermediate input at the service of innovating industries and processes. Broadband was a critical infrastructure for the digitally-based creative industries. Today the quality of the broadband infrastructure in Australia—itself an outcome of these different policy frameworks—is identified as “fraudband” holding back business, creativity and consumer uptake. In this paper I use the checkered trajectory of broadband on Australian political and policy horizons as a stepping off point to reflect on the ideas governing these changing governmental and public settings. This history enables me to explore how content and infrastructure are simultaneously connected and disconnected in our thinking. And, finally, I want to make some remarks about the way communication, particularly media communication, has been marginally positioned after being, initially so apparently central.

Creative suburbia : rethinking urban cultural policy – the Australian case

This article considers the question of whether creative workers demonstrate a preference for inner cities or suburbs, drawing upon research findings from the ‘Creative Suburbia’ project undertaken by a team of Australian researchers over 2008–2010 in selected suburban areas of Brisbane and Melbourne. Locating this question in wider debates about the relationship of the suburbs to the city, as well as the development of new suburban forms such as master-planned communities, the article finds that the number of creative industries workers located in the suburbs is significant, and those creative workforce members living and working in suburban areas are generally happy with this experience, locating in the suburbs out of personal choice rather than economic necessity. This runs counter to the received wisdom on creative cities, which emphasize cultural amenity in inner city areas as a primary driver of location decisions for the ‘creative class’. The article draws out some implications of the findings for urban cultural policy, arguing that the focus on developing inner urban cultural amenity has been overplayed, and that more attention should be given to how to better enable distributed knowledge systems through high-speed broadband infrastructure.

Modelling the broadband wireless channel in rural Australia

The internet infrastructure which supports high data rates has a major impact on the Australian economy and the world. However, in rural Australia, the provision of broadband services to an internet dispersed population over a large geographical area with low population densities remains both an economic and technical challenge [1]. Furthermore, the implementation of currently available technologies such as fibre-to-the-premise (FTTP), 3G, 4G and WiMAX seems to be impractical, considering the low population density that is distributed in a large area. Therefore, new paradigms and innovative telecommunication technologies need to be explored to overcome the challenges of providing faster and more reliable broadband internet services to internet dispersed rural areas. The research project implements an innovative Multi-User- Single-Antenna for MIMO (MUSA-MIMO) technology using the spectrum currently allocated to analogue TV. MUSAMIMO technology can be considered as a special case of MIMO technology, which is beneficial when provisioning reliable and high-speed communication channels. Particularly, the abstract describes the development of a novel MUSA-MIMO channel model that takes into account temporal variations in the rural wireless environment. This can be considered as a novel approach tailor-made to rural Australia for provisioning efficient wireless broadband communications.

Channel tracking algorithms for highly efficient wireless broadband communications in rural areas

High-speed broadband internet access is widely recognised as a catalyst to social and economic development, having a significant impact on global economy. Rural Australia’s inherent dispersed population over a large geographical area make the delivery of efficient, well-maintained and cost-effective internet a challenging task. The novel and highly-efficient Multi-User-Single-Antenna for MIMO (MUSA-MIMO) broadband wireless communication technology can effectively be used to deliver wireless broadband access to rural areas. This research aims to develop for the first time, an efficient and accurate algorithm for the tracking and prediction of Channel State Information (CSI) at the transmitter, by characterising time variation effects of the wireless communication channel on the performance of a highly-efficient MUSA-MIMO technology particularly suited for rural communities, improving their quality of life and economic prosperity.

Efficient wireless broadband communications to rural area

This paper discusses how internet services can be brought one step closer to the rural dispersed communities by improving wireless broadband communications in those areas. To accomplish this objective we describe the use of an innovative Multi-User-Single-Antenna for MIMO (MUSA-MIMO) technology using the spectrum currently allocated to analogue TV. MUSA-MIMO technology can be considered as a special case of MIMO technology, which is beneficial when provisioning reliable and high-speed communication channels. This paper describes channel modelling techniques to characterise the MUSA-MIMO system allowing an effective deployment of this technology. Particularly, it describes the development of a novel MUSA MIMO channel model that takes into account temporal variations in the rural wireless environment. This can be considered as a novel approach tailor-maid to rural Australia for provisioning efficient wireless broadband communications.

Deterministic diffraction loss modelling for novel broadband communication in rural environments

This paper presents a deterministic modelling approach to predict diffraction loss for an innovative Multi-User-Single-Antenna (MUSA) MIMO technology, proposed for rural Australian environments. In order to calculate diffraction loss, six receivers have been considered around an access point in a selected rural environment. Generated terrain profiles for six receivers are presented in this paper. Simulation results using classical diffraction models and diffraction theory are also presented by accounting the rural Australian terrain data. Results show that in an area of 900 m by 900 m surrounding the receivers, path loss due to diffraction can range between 5 dB and 35 dB. Diffraction loss maps can contribute to determine the optimal location for receivers of MUSA-MIMO systems in rural areas.

Submission to House Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications : inquiry into the role and potential of the National Broadband Network

Just as telecommunications has played a key role in the global economy,1 high-speed broadband will have a significant role to play in the future of the digital economy. In particular high-speed broadband will have a role to play in the delivery of applications and services necessary for acquiring, and maintaining into the future Australia and Australians’ appropriate education level; community; health services, information provision and support; government services and engagement and participation by the public in the political process.

Rural and remote road safety study : final report

• Introduction: Concern and action for rural road safety is relatively new in Australia in comparison to the field of traffic safety as a whole. In 2003, a program of research was begun by the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety - Queensland (CARRS-Q) and the Rural Health Research Unit (RHRU) at James Cook University to investigate factors contributing to serious rural road crashes in the North Queensland region. This project was funded by the Premier’s Department, Main Roads Department, Queensland Transport, QFleet, Queensland Rail, Queensland Ambulance Service, Department of Natural Resources and Queensland Police Service. Additional funding was provided by NRMA Insurance for a PhD scholarship. In-kind support was provided through the four hospitals used for data collection, namely Cairns Base Hospital, The Townsville Hospital, Mount Isa Hospital and Atherton Hospital.----- The primary aim of the project was to: Identify human factors related to the occurrence of serious traffic incidents in rural and remote areas of Australia, and to the trauma suffered by persons as a result of these incidents, using a sample drawn from a rural and remote area in North Queensland.----- The data and analyses presented in this report are the core findings from two broad studies: a general examination of fatalities and casualties from rural and remote crashes for the period 1 March 2004 until 30 June 2007, and a further linked case-comparison study of hospitalised patients compared with a sample of non-crash-involved drivers.----- • Method: The study was undertaken in rural North Queensland, as defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) statistical divisions of North Queensland, Far North Queensland and North-West Queensland. Urban areas surrounding Townsville, Thuringowa and Cairns were not included. The study methodology was centred on serious crashes, as defined by a resulting hospitalisation for 24 hours or more and/or a fatality. Crashes meeting this criteria within the North Queensland region between 1 March 2004 and 30 June 2007 were identified through hospital records and interviewed where possible. Additional data was sourced from coroner’s reports, the Queensland Transport road crash database, the Queensland Ambulance Service and the study hospitals in the region.----- This report is divided into chapters corresponding to analyses conducted on the collected crash and casualty data.----- Chapter 3 presents an overview of all crashes and casualties identified during the study period. Details are presented in regard to the demographics and road user types of casualties; the locations, times, types, and circumstances of crashes; along with the contributing circumstances of crashes.----- Chapter 4 presents the results of summary statistics for all casualties for which an interview was able to be conducted. Statistics are presented separately for drivers and riders, passengers, pedestrians and cyclists. Details are also presented separately for drivers and riders crashing in off-road and on-road settings. Results from questionnaire data are presented in relation to demographics; the experience of the crash in narrative form; vehicle characteristics and maintenance; trip characteristics (e.g. purpose and length of journey; periods of fatigue and monotony; distractions from driving task); driving history; alcohol and drug use; medical history; driving attitudes, intentions and behaviour; attitudes to enforcement; and experience of road safety advertising.----- Chapter 5 compares the above-listed questionnaire results between on-road crash-involved casualties and interviews conducted in the region with non-crash-involved persons. Direct comparisons as well as age and sex adjusted comparisons are presented.----- Chapter 6 presents information on those casualties who were admitted to one of the study hospitals during the study period. Brief information is given regarding the demographic characteristics of these casualties. Emergency services’ data is used to highlight the characteristics of patient retrieval and transport to and between hospitals. The major injuries resulting from the crashes are presented for each region of the body and analysed by vehicle type, occupant type, seatbelt status, helmet status, alcohol involvement and nature of crash. Estimates are provided of the costs associated with in-hospital treatment and retrieval.----- Chapter 7 describes the characteristics of the fatal casualties and the nature and circumstances of the crashes. Demographics, road user types, licence status, crash type and contributing factors for crashes are presented. Coronial data is provided in regard to contributing circumstances (including alcohol, drugs and medical conditions), cause of death, resulting injuries, and restraint and helmet use.----- Chapter 8 presents the results of a comparison between casualties’ crash descriptions and police-attributed crash circumstances. The relative frequency of contributing circumstances are compared both broadly within the categories of behavioural, environmental, vehicle related, medical and other groupings and specifically for circumstances within these groups.----- Chapter 9 reports on the associated research projects which have been undertaken on specific topics related to rural road safety.----- Finally, Chapter 10 reports on the conclusions and recommendations made from the program of research.---- • Major Recommendations : From the findings of these analyses, a number of major recommendations were made: + Male drivers and riders - Male drivers and riders should continue to be the focus of interventions, given their very high representation among rural and remote road crash fatalities and serious injuries.----- - The group of males aged between 30 and 50 years comprised the largest number of casualties and must also be targeted for change if there is to be a meaningful improvement in rural and remote road safety.----- + Motorcyclists - Single vehicle motorcycle crashes constitute over 80% of serious, on-road rural motorcycle crashes and need particular attention in development of policy and infrastructure.----- - The motorcycle safety consultation process currently being undertaken by Queensland Transport (via the "Motorbike Safety in Queensland - Consultation Paper") is strongly endorsed. As part of this process, particular attention needs to be given to initiatives designed to reduce rural and single vehicle motorcycle crashes.----- - The safety of off-road riders is a serious problem that falls outside the direct responsibility of either Transport or Health departments. Responsibility for this issue needs to be attributed to develop appropriate policy, regulations and countermeasures.----- + Road safety for Indigenous people - Continued resourcing and expansion of The Queensland Aboriginal Peoples and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Driver Licensing Program to meet the needs of remote and Indigenous communities with significantly lower licence ownership levels.----- - Increased attention needs to focus on the contribution of geographic disadvantage (remoteness) factors to remote and Indigenous road trauma.----- + Road environment - Speed is the ‘final common pathway’ in determining the severity of rural and remote crashes and rural speed limits should be reduced to 90km/hr for sealed off-highway roads and 80km/hr for all unsealed roads as recommended in the Austroads review and in line with the current Tasmanian government trial.----- - The Department of Main Roads should monitor rural crash clusters and where appropriate work with local authorities to conduct relevant audits and take mitigating action. - The international experts at the workshop reviewed the data and identified the need to focus particular attention on road design management for dangerous curves. They also indicated the need to maximise the use of audio-tactile linemarking (audible lines) and rumble strips to alert drivers to dangerous conditions and behaviours.----- + Trauma costs - In accordance with Queensland Health priorities, recognition should be given to the substantial financial costs associated with acute management of trauma resulting from serious rural and remote crashes.----- - Efforts should be made to develop a comprehensive, regionally specific costing formula for road trauma that incorporates the pre-hospital, hospital and post-hospital phases of care. This would inform health resource allocation and facilitate the evaluation of interventions.----- - The commitment of funds to the development of preventive strategies to reduce rural and remote crashes should take into account the potential cost savings associated with trauma.----- - A dedicated study of the rehabilitation needs and associated personal and healthcare costs arising from rural and remote road crashes should be undertaken.----- + Emergency services - While the study has demonstrated considerable efficiency in the response and retrieval systems of rural and remote North Queensland, relevant Intelligent Transport Systems technologies (such as vehicle alarm systems) to improve crash notification should be both developed and evaluated.----- + Enforcement - Alcohol and speed enforcement programs should target the period between 2 and 6pm because of the high numbers of crashes in the afternoon period throughout the rural region.----- + Drink driving - Courtesy buses should be advocated and schemes such as the Skipper project promoted as local drink driving countermeasures in line with the very high levels of community support for these measures identified in the hospital study.------ - Programs should be developed to target the high levels of alcohol consumption identified in rural and remote areas and related involvement in crashes.----- - Referrals to drink driving rehabilitation programs should be mandated for recidivist offenders.----- + Data requirements - Rural and remote road crashes should receive the same quality of attention as urban crashes. As such, it is strongly recommended that increased resources be committed to enable dedicated Forensic Crash Units to investigate rural and remote fatal and serious injury crashes.----- - Transport department records of rural and remote crashes should record the crash location using the national ARIA area classifications used by health departments as a means to better identifying rural crashes.----- - Rural and remote crashes tend to be unnoticed except in relatively infrequent rural reviews. They should receive the same level of attention and this could be achieved if fatalities and fatal crashes were coded by the ARIA classification system and included in regular crash reporting.----- - Health, Transport and Police agencies should collect a common, minimal set of data relating to road crashes and injuries, including presentations to small rural and remote health facilities.----- + Media and community education programmes - Interventions seeking to highlight the human contribution to crashes should be prioritised. Driver distraction, alcohol and inappropriate speed for the road conditions are key examples of such behaviours.----- - Promotion of basic safety behaviours such as the use of seatbelts and helmets should be given a renewed focus.----- - Knowledge, attitude and behavioural factors that have been identified for the hospital Brief Intervention Trial should be considered in developing safety campaigns for rural and remote people. For example challenging the myth of the dangerous ‘other’ or ‘non-local’ driver.----- - Special educational initiatives on the issues involved in rural and remote driving should be undertaken. For example the material used by Main Roads, the Australian Defence Force and local initiatives.

The role of intermediaries in the implementation and development of asynchronous rural access

In Orissa state, India, the DakNet system supports asynchronous Internet communication between an urban hub and rural nodes. DakNet is noteworthy in many respects, not least in how the system leverages existing transport infrastructure. Wi-Fi transceivers mounted on local buses send and receive user data from roadside kiosks, for later transfer to/from the Internet via wireless protocols. This store-and-forward system allows DakNet to offer asynchronous communication capacity to rural users at low cost. The original ambition of the DakNet system was to provide email and SMS facilities to rural communities. Our 2008 study of the communicative ecology surrounding the DakNet system revealed that this ambition has now evolved – in response to market demand – to the extent that e-shopping (rather than email) has become the primary driver behind the DakNet offer.

Planning infrastructure : considerations for regional development

Current rapid increases in the scope of regional development and the reach of technology have combined with the expanding scale of modern settlements to focus growing attention on infrastructure provisionneeds. This has included organisational and funding systems, the management of new technologies and regional scale social provisions. In this chapter, the evolution of urban and regional infrastructure is traced from its earliest origins in the growth of organized societies of 5 ,000 years ago. Infrastructure needs and provision are illustrated for the arenas of metropolitan, provincial and rural regions. Rural infrastructure examples and lessons are drawn from global case studies. Recent expansions of the scope of infrastructure are examined and issues of governance and process discussed. Phased planning processes are related to cycles of program adoption, objective formulation, option evaluation and programme budgeting. Issues of privatisation and public interest are considered. Matters of contemporary global significance are explored, including the current economic contraction and the effects of global climate change. Conclusions are drawn about the role and importance of linking regional planning to coherent regional infrastructure programs and budgets

The future of the internet economy : addressing challenges facing the implementation of the Australian national broadband network

Innovation is vital for the future of Australia.s internet economy. Innovations rely on businesses. ability to innovate. Businesses. ability to innovate relies on their employees. The more these individual end users engage in the internet economy, the better businesses. engagement will be. The less these individual end users engage, the less likely a business is to engage and innovate. This means, for the internet economy to function at its fullest potential, it is essential that individual Australians have the capacity to engage with it and participate in it. The Australian federal government is working to facilitate the internet economy through policies, legislation and practices that implement high-speed broadband. The National Broadband Network will be a vital tool for Australia.s internet economy. Its .chief importance¡® is that it will provide faster internet access speeds that will facilitate access to internet services and content. However, an appropriate infrastructure and internet speed is only part of the picture. As the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development identified, appropriate government policies are also needed to ensure that vital services are more accessible by consumers. The thesis identifies essential theories and principles underpinning the internet economy and from which the concept of connectedness is developed. Connectedness is defined as the ability of end users to connect with internet content and services, other individuals and organisations, and government. That is, their ability to operate in the internet economy. The NBN will be vital in ensuring connectedness into the future. What is not currently addressed by existing access regimes is how to facilitate end user access capacity and participation. The thesis concludes by making recommendations to the federal government as to what the governing principles of the Australian internet economy should include in order to enable individual end user access capacity.

Urban informatics for rural knowledge economies

This position paper provides an overview of a proposed study that seeks to design and develop tools, methods and applications of urban informatics to promote an innovation culture and knowledge economy in regional Queensland. The National Broadband Network has the potential to leapfrog regional Queensland to join the knowledge economy, but effective applications and content strategies are required. The Edge is the Queensland Government’s Digital Culture Centre to engage young people in the technology/culture nexus. This position paper provides an overview of a proposed study that will set up Living Labs at The Edge and in a new precinct in rural Queensland (Goondiwindi) as sites to trial strategies and applications that engage people in entrepreneurial thinking, sustainability initiatives, and new creative practices across the urban and rural boundaries.

Broadband, the NBN and screen futures

It is important to try to come to grips with what content and applications are likely to be feasible, popular and beneficial on the National Broadband Network, which is being rolled out now. This short article looks at the three main types of content ('unmanaged', 'managed' and 'publicly supported' services), shows how creative content is being, or could be, deployed across all three, and discusses the policy opportunities and challenges for content industries in connecting with what Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government and Minister for the Arts Simon Crean calls 'the largest cultural infrastructure project Australia has ever seen'.

Property, planning and purpose : legal concerns facing broadband rollout in Australia

The Australian government, and opposition, are committed to facilitating high-speed broadband provision. In April 2009 the (then) Labor government announced a proposal to facilitate provision by mandating “…the use of fibre optic infrastructure … in greenfield estates ….” Separately, the installation of (usually overhead) cables commenced in select brownfield areas throughout Australia. In the lead up to the 2010 federal election, the broadband policy focus of the (then) federal opposition was to enabling private investment rather than direct investment by government itself. High-speed broadband is essential for Australia’s economic future. Whether implementation is undertaken by government, government owned corporations or private investors, will impact on the processes to be followed. Who does what, also will determine the rights available to land owners. The next stage, of necessity, will involve the establishment of procedures to require the retrofitting of existing urban environments. This clearly will have major property, property rights and valuation impacts. As Horan (2000) observed “…preserving... unique characteristics … of…regions requires a compromise between economic ambitions and social, cultural, and environmental values”. The uncertainty following the federal election, and the influence of independants with individual agendas; presents unique challenges for broadband implementation. This paper seeks to identify the processes to be followed by various potential broadband investors as they work to establish a ubiquitous network. It overviews current legislative regimes and examines concerns raised by stakeholders in various government reviews. It concludes by plotting a clear way forward to the future, with particular regard to property rights and usage.

Analysis of rural MUSA-MIMO-OFDM uplink channel capacity

Multi-user single antenna multiple-input multiple-output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MUSA-MIMO-OFDM) is a promising technology to improve the spectrum efficiency of fixed wireless broadband access systems in rural areas. This letter investigates the capacity of MUSA-MIMO-OFDM uplink channel by theoretical, simulation, and empirical approaches considering up to six users. We propose an empirical capacity formula suitable for rural areas. Characteristics of channel capacity temporal variations and their relationship with the wind speed, observed in a rural area, are also presented in this letter.