The OECD has released its Economic Overview for Australia for 2014.
The OECD report suggests Australia’s material living standards and well-being compare well internationally, reflecting a well-managed and successful economy. The economy is slowing as the prolonged mining boom recedes. Output growth of about 3% is expected for 2014 and 2.5% in 2015. [Editor’s note – Growth of 2.5% is seen by many observers as ’optimistic’ in light of the ”MYEFO” report published after this OECD report. ]
Of interest is the House Markets chart. Look closely.
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
Those interested in the public policy [and community] issues of rural and regional Australia will be interested in the excellent work of the Regional Australia Institute.
From their site:
We run a tightly focused research agenda, improving the quality of and access to knowledge on how we can ensure the prosperity and sustainability of Australia’s regions, and our nation as a whole.
Of note, is their work on a visualisation tool called “insight”.
Insight – Regional Australia Institute
The tool allows users to make comparative analyses of Regional Development Areas [RDA’s] or Local Government Areas [LGA’s]
It is an online index and interactive map that tracks the competitiveness of Australia’s 560 Local LGA’s and 55 RDA regions.
[In]Sight spans ten themes and 59 indicators specifically tailored to reflect the fundamentals of sustainable growth in Australia, capturing the competitiveness of LGA’s and RDA’s according to current economic performance and drivers of future success.
A recent tweet from the NTEU ACT Division (@NTEUACT)
Australia has 2nd highest level of insecure work in OECD – after Spain.
We know that we are approaching 40% of the workforce undertaking insecure work.
Forms of Employment – Australia 2011
*Source: Lives on Hold – Unlocking the potential of Australia’s workforce.
We also hear much about “skills shortages” and the need for “flexibility”, yet the “elephant-in-the-room” when it comes to REAL skills shortages is the glaring lack of wage INCREASES – if skills were not present, wages would [should] go up… but more on that later.
Leigh Hubbard also has a worthwhile article in the latest Australian Nursing Journal making the point that this issue extends well beyond the “blue collar” phenomenon and extends to schools, universities and health professionals.
This is a critical economic and social policy issue for modern economies and something that touches all levels of Australian society. Increasing stressors within modern families and the wider community should not be underestimated. We have seen the historical tensions and results of disengagement and lack of opportunity in places like Hackney in the UK, and many who live and work in suburban and rural and regional Australia will also understand the social and economic pressures of day to day life. Even something as simple as a bus-ride can suggest underlying tensions in communities that are sadly, too familiar.
We are now in a position where, more than ever before, risk [in its broadest sense] is being outsourced at EVERY point of the life cycle; schooling, education, training, health, employment housing, manufacturing. All of these endeavours are changed by the rapid and transitory flow of capital investment. Stakes are so high, the risk and rewards so great, that the ability of many “traditional” enterprises to “invest” has altered markedly.
Investment now appears transitory, patterns looking much more like speculation than investment. Within the space of one generation or less, we now see returns needed on schedules of less than a decade, sometimes less than five years, when less than a generation ago, “investments” were considered inter-generational and conversely the skills and employment opportunities grew from this base.
Non Standard Employment Growth in Australia 1992-2009
*Source: Lives on Hold – Unlocking the potential of Australia’s workforce.
This is no longer the case and the implications for education and training and the preparation of young people for modern labour markets has NEVER been more important. Now is the time to improve the conditions, quality and scope of our education sectors, if for no other reason, so investment in our social contract does not wane…
Research:
Lives On Hold – Independent Inquiry in to Insecure Work [PDF]
Once again, the labour market data in Australia shows a remarkably robust labour market, with seasonally adjusted unemployment stable in July at 5.8%. ANZ CEO Mike Smith last night stated that he saw unemployment here stabilising at 6%, which would be remarkable. The problem is that that would require a fair pick up in the economy in the second half of this year, which is…..
Executive Director of the Lowy Institute, Michael Wesley, gave a short presentation in Melbourne, with the broad theme being that coming years are likely to see Australia facing the most challenging global environment in our history.
The unemployment numbers yesterday were again remarkably good relative to what is happening elsewhere in the world. The headline u/e rate is up to 5.8%. Since July last year we’ve lost about 160,000 full time jobs, but part time jobs are up about 127,000. Of course we need to create jobs to stop the unemployment rate from rising, but compare these numbers with the US. Paul Krugman this week pointed out that the US has lost more than 6 million jobs since the recession started, and it needed to create 8 million jobs to stop the unemployment rate from rising over the same period.
