Cables lying on the seafloor bring the internet to the world. They transmit 99 percent of international data, make transoceanic communication possible in an instant, and serve as a loose proxy for the international trade that connects advanced economies.
Today [Nov 26th ] in a window of connectivity [ Download speeds 0.04Mbps or slower than a 1995 dialup modem] I received this:
The PREMISE of this communication is that SOMEONE from Telstra has responded?
No-one’s listening…..
The sum total of my interactions with Telstra Support SINCE I contacted them on the 17th of November [as outlined below] can be summarised in two “tweets” I received in reply to this article; it appears that no-one at Telstra has considered RINGING me?
We’re here to provide customer support and answer any Telstra questions you might have whenever it works for you – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!
Source: https://twitter.com/Telstra
My dear-departed father never understood the internet, he thought it was like yelling in the wind…
Perhaps this is all I have left, pointless, but it might be fun….
This is not simply another ” Telstra rant”, but rather, I hope, a careful consideration of the challenges, both technical and cultural, being faced by our largest telecommunications provider and the implications it has for rural communities, business and the economy as a whole.
Question: What does it mean for Telstra and the productivity of businesses, both big and small, that rely on critical, time sensitive services, when the systems and people it employs to address customer enquiries and calls for assistance provide information that is both incorrect and contraryto the publicly available information on their own website?
Perhaps we need Alexander to supply his solution to this Gordian knot?
I spent seventeen minutes and eight seconds [17:08] on the phone with TWO Telstra support staff on Sunday the 17th of November. This is after two unsuccessful attempts [call queues].
I had been without 3G Data services for approximately 36 hours.
As of composing this post at 9:35 am Monday 18th of November, I am still without service.
Edit: As at Noon today, no service…..
Edit: 1:35pm, no service…
Edit: 26th November 4:15pm – 11 days and no-one at Telstra customer support has thought to RING me… Still no response…. Stunning.
I run a consultancy business from home and am online 7 days a week. We have no copper lines on our rural property and an exchange is many Kilometres away, making 3G wireless services our only [and expensive] option. Living on a rural property, we also consider such wireless-based services as fire and weather data as critical.
I have also gone to the expense [$1000.00 + incl installation ] of purchasing a Telstra Smart Antenna to boost and focus internal 3G coverage.
I pay over $300.00 dollars per month for a combined Mobile-phone and Bigpond Wireless Internet service that only provides 12 Gigabyte of data download a month… I use a large additional Mobile phone data pack to supplement this very poor access, hence the additional costs. My house and property *are* covered by an NBN fixed-wireless coverage envelope, *but* apparently the ADDRESS of my property is *not*, thus I do-not yet have access to an NBN alternative? That “adminisitrivia” is for another time…..sigh..
I had spent many, many hours troubleshooting my own network devices, ensuring the problem was not of my own doing. I had attempted to contact Telstra support on two previous occasions but the wait-time in the phone queue meant I had to hang up.
I eventually spoke with two separate operators over an almost 20 minute period.
At approximately 2:55pm on Sunday 17th of November, I was assured by these TWO separate Telstra support staff that there was no 3G Network issues in Broadford.
Six minutes later, at 3:01pm I took this screen shot from my mobile phone in the split-second of service coverage I received. [Note: I had been trying to load this page since early SATURDAY morning – 30+ hours]. This shows what anyone with public internet access knew BUT the Telstra Support workers where unable to identify.
Broadford has unplanned outages and it had been occurring for [at least 5.5 hours -by Telstra reports] but over 30 hours by my *experience* of the service.
Operator- No network issues in Broadford?
This is the point I simply gave up….. Beaten.
It is for the fourth time in five days that I have picked up my “mobile office” from my newly-built and equipped home-office and travelled 40+ kilometres to the home of a family member so that I can access an internet connection. [ A connection I must say that provides over 5 times monthly bandwidth allowance and one-fifth the cost of anything available to me.
We know the OECD research that shows that doubling the broadband speed for an economy increases GDP by 0.3%.
We also know that National Economics modelling showed that lagging regions have poor access to quality telecommunications infrastructure, preventing efficient internet usage and, therefore, reducing the possibilities for exporting and attracting high technology firm start-ups.
Those concerned with such macro and micro policy issues should pay close attention to the growing inequity in what is clearly a fundamental business and community infrastructure item.
What does it do for an economy and community when the broadband speeds are almost non-existent and the provider is apparently unaware of this?
The significance of Broadford?
The Irony of these difficulties occurring in the Mitchell Shire and in and around Broadford should not be lost on anyone.
Broadford has a little history with all things internet.
The Broadford Secondary College [of which I have a past-association] was the first school in the world [yes, you read that correctly] to link Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Australian schools via the internet.
It did this in partnership with PEGASUS Networks, [the first commercial internet ISP in Australia] and I*EARN, the first International Education Telecommunications network.
Along with partner schools Mansfield and Wandong it was also the first Australian school to address the United Nations via video-phone [Hansard] and internet connection.
In 1994-5, Broadford received over 300 visitors and delegations from China, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, India, New Zealand, the USA, Canada, Israel, England, France, Argentina, Spain, Portugal, South Africa, Chile, Brazil, Italy, The Netherlands, New South Wales, Tasmania and the Northern Territory, all to review the use of telecommunications in education and the community.
Ironically, Broadford High School/Secondary College was also the National Launch Site in 1996 for newly planned [and newly founded] Telstra Corporation [Bigpond] and their LearnIT programme. This saw Broadford students linked with two others schools nationwide, also participating as an audience member [at a remote site – Melbourne, was the Premier of Victoria – The Hon. Jeff Kennett and the CEO of Telstra, Mr. Frank Blount]
Seventeen years after some of these Broadband services were launched in Broadford and 25 years after we began sending emails and collaborating online with colleagues via online services, I have to leave town to simply get a connection?
This is one last vain-attempt to make contact with a Telstra Support staff member that can
a) respond with some factual details regarding the fault
b) suggest a schedule for resolution
c) offer any improved service that I could access?
Michael Smith – 1996 – Broadford and Broadband [ I have removed link as Google reports on 9th feb 2014 that this site or its links contain Malware] Original URL is http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2013/05/in-1996-i-sat-in-a-conference-room-in-melbourne-with-jeff-kennett-while-a-school-band-at-broadford-s. html
Google is developing plans to use a network of huge balloons to provide internet to the two-thirds of the world currently without web access.
Project Loon balloons float in the stratosphere, twice as high as airplanes and the weather. They are carried around the Earth by winds and they can be steered by rising or descending to an altitude with winds moving in the desired direction. People connect to the balloon network using a special Internet antenna attached to their building. The signal bounces from balloon to balloon, then to the global Internet back on Earth. [Source: Google]
According to ABC News Australia, the experiment, codenamed Project Loon, was trialled on Saturday at Christchurch, on New Zealand’s South Island. Scientists floated 30 helium-filled balloons around 20 kilometres into the stratosphere, carrying antennae linked to ground base stations.
Wi-fi signals were beamed from another part of New Zealand to the 15-metre-diameter balloons, and then to the homes of about 50 trial participants. Google says the participants were then able to successfully link to the internet. [Source: ABC]
Very innovative stuff. Let’s hope we can find similar solutions to access to potable water, medicines and education.
Google has posted an interesting [and fun] run-down of the energy pathway of an email through a well crafted online animation/cartoon.
The environmental impact on growing data centres is very real and the question of sustainability is a strategic and governance challenge that cannot be ignored. The context of the current debate about carbon-pricing and mechanisms for capture and/or attenuation of future impacts is very real for these global companies.
All members of the LLEN should note the work of the Victorian Rural and Regional Services Development Committee and the Outer Suburban/Interface Services and Development Committee of the Parliament of Victoria. Over the past year the Central Ranges LLEN has given sworn evidence, made submissions to or assisted other groups to contribute to these three inquiries.
On January 19th, 2006, the Rural and Regional Services and Development Committee received terms of reference for an Inquiry into Retaining Young People in Rural Towns and Communities. The Committee is required to report to the Parliament by June 15th, 2006.
The terms of reference require the Committee to identify and examine the factors that influence young people to remain in rural communities, or to leave them; and to recommend strategies that might lead to more young people remaining in or returning to rural communities.
The full Terms of Reference can be found by following the link on this page.
The Committee welcomes contributions to the Inquiry. Follow the link to the “How to Make a Submission” page for more information about how to contribute your views.
The deadline for submission is 28th April 2006.
Regional Telecommunications
On 3 June 2003, the Rural and Regional Services and Development Committee of the Parliament of Victoria received terms of reference to inquire into regional telecommunications infrastructure for business.
The reference requires the all-party Committee to inquire into the potential benefits to Victorian regional businesses from improved access to telecommunications infrastructure and services, in particular broadband infrastructure and services, and highlight any impediments that may stop businesses realising this potential.
The Central Ranges LLEN has provided sworn statements to the Regional Telecommunications review. This can be found here.
