I stumbled across an interesting bit of news from ZDnet this morning. Not only will Australia get a new Prime Minister, but he also comes with a Broadband Minister.
I always thought that having Communications, Information Technology and Arts lumped together as a portfolio was rather wierd. But now, arts has been dropped and the importance of broadband infrastructure reinforced. This will be a good thing for Australia, given the numerous reports suggesting we’re falling behind world standards, most likely due to Telstra’s monopoly over infrastructure stifling the market.
“AUSTRALIA remains in 17th place among developed countries in the proportion of broadband internet users, as critics claim it risks falling behind if plans are not made to encourage more investment” - The Age. July, 2006.
Maybe now, we’ll see this previous resource given the attention it needs. Only time will tell.
M
30 November, 2007 at 10:49 am
We can but hope. My greatest wish is that someone gets in Stephen Conroy’s ear about open eGovernment (Government 2.0) and stops us playing catchup to the Kiwis, US and almost everyone in Europe…