The NBN for Central Victoria
Last week I visited Central Victoria at the invitation of the NBN4Bendigo Loddon Mallee Committee.
I travelled from Mildura to Robinvale, Swan Hill and Echuca, finishing the tour in Bendigo. During that time I met with local councils, business leaders and representatives from healthcare and education to explore with them the opportunities and challenges the NBN will present to them. Mayors and other representatives from neighbouring councils also participated making these meetings and discussions very representative for developments throughout regional Australia.
I attended over a dozen meetings with groups and decision-makers and presented my views on the topics of the economic and social benefits that the NBN can bring to their communities.
I was very pleasantly surprised that I encountered no resistance to the NBN anywhere. On the contrary, the NBN had the absolute support of the close to 400 leaders I met during this trip. The reason that I mention this is that the people in regional Australia are often slightly more conservative than metro dwellers; however it appears that very little of the current political discord is affecting their interest in, and support for, the NBN. However, political confusion and miscommunication has hampered the preparation of some local councils.
When I launched my broadbanding of regional Australia campaign in the 00s (visiting over 50 local councils) I received great support from conservative political leaders. Support from these political leaders has diminished since the change in Government in 2007, and I was worried that at a local level enthusiasm for the NBN may have waned also.
That most certainly was not the case. The decision-makers, at least, have an excellent understanding of what the NBN means for them. That is perhaps not yet the case when one moves deeper into the regional communities, but during the tour I also did eight media interviews (TV, radio and newspapers) – a sign that there is widespread interest in the topic throughout this region.
Perhaps what has happened over the last four years was that, due to the political confusion surrounding the NBN, some of the local councils dropped the ball somewhat, and this had become clear to them when they noticed that their towns were not on the initial NBN Co rollout list. They suddenly start to realise that 700 local councils are now trying to convince NBN Co that they are NBN-ready and would like to see the NBN rolled out in their local council area ASAP. But, with typical regional ‘can do’ approach, the councils in Central Victoria are bouncing back with a vengeance, determined to rectify the situation in time for the next NBN Co announcements in 2012.
Not telecoms but regional infrastructure
I was able to explain to them that the NBN was not a telecoms issue but a national infrastructure one, similar to roads, electricity, water and other infrastructure. There was also not a huge problem addressing the trans-sector issues with them in relation to e-health, tele-education, smart grids, e-commerce and so on. As we have always said, the importance of the NBN is probably greater to regional Australia than elsewhere, and therefore it is essential that they don’t get buried under the marketing, PR and lobbying campaigns from metro Australia. For this reason regional Australia needs the support of its political leaders.
Most, if not all, fully understood – at a strategic level – the social and economic benefits that the NBN will bring to regional Australia. Key issues related to the new infrastructure, such as the lifestyle in regional areas, the sustainability of these communities, the environmental challenges (eg, water) and the opportunities for economic development are all very well understood.
Certainly, not everybody can grasp the full implications of the NBN, but I share that sentiment as we can only imagine a fraction of what will be possible in 3,5 or 10 years time. We can only look so far ahead. However what is helping is that people have already seen massive changes over the last ten years – from dial-up to DSL, mobile broadband, smartphones and YouTube.
All of the community leaders recognised that the future is uncharted and that what some people might see as sufficient now will not be sufficient in five or ten years’ time. People clearly recognise this. Nobody wants to go back to dial-up and it was not too difficult for them to understand that DSL will soon be the dial-up version of the future.
Regional NBN infrastructure
Once the trans-sector vision of the NBN is fully understood it is also much easier to discuss what is needed to make it happen. Farmers along the Murray are professional business people. They understand the need to monitor their almond trees, irrigation systems, water levies, weather conditions, cattle movements, fences, etc. It is not difficult to explain the Internet of Things to them, and from that point they also appreciate the need for an infrastructure that can handle the capacity needed to process and analyse that data in real time. Healthcare people understand the importance of security and privacy and all of this leads to the need for a robust infrastructure. People agree that it is better to make investments in quality infrastructure rather than to do it ‘on the cheap’. They fully grasp the fact that the current broadband infrastructure is not sufficient to manage what will be needed in the future.
Council leadership
I repeated the message I had given in meetings with regional leaders on previous occasions over the last decade. This is all about mayors showing leadership, similar to the need for prime ministers and presidents to show leadership at a national level (a message that was confirmed at the meeting of the UN Broadband Commission in late October in Geneva). Overseas examples of political leadership in other countries certainly helped to illustrate the importance that others are giving to broadband.
I suggested to the mayors that they form local community steering committees, with representatives from the various community sectors. This should be supported by a dedicated council officer or perhaps a regional coordinator covering the combined regional councils.
It is good to see that Bendigo, Mildura, Swan Hill and Echuca are now well underway with their NBN Co engagement strategies.
Main activities include:
- Strategic broadbanding plan for each community (what makes this community special and how can the NBN be used to support it, and at the same time provide for new social and economic opportunities;
- Mapping of existing infrastructure;
- Mapping of key businesses, especially those outside the fibre footprint;
- If needed, look for opportunities to link them to fibre (fibre-to-the-farm) – perhaps the Victorian State Government $87 million fund could be used for this?
- Engage with the community (meetings, displays, brochures, school competitions, awards for innovative ideas from businesses and the community) – also reach out to the outer rural communities;
- I stressed the importance of engaging with young people – as usual most of the people I met with were well and truly over the age of 35 – we also need the ones under 25;
- Work with local teachers, nurses, doctors, community and social workers to create an NBN-inclusive community;
- Also make the community NBN-ready from the perspective of the physical NBN Co rollout (engage with them, check where the council can assist, etc).
By the end of this trip I was more convinced than ever that the NBN is here to stay. None of the people I met would be willing to have the NBN taken away from them, and to then wait another five years for a new plan to be developed. People are getting it and it is about time we had bipartisan support for at least the vision and the strategy of the NBN. Once you have that agreement you can start looking at how to implement it, and it is there that some leeway can be allowed for differing political positions.
However, once the vision and strategy is established it becomes evident that what we are developing cannot be done cheaply. I am also encouraged by the fact that Australian people in general do not shy away from bold plans – whether they involve the Olympics, climate change policies or the NBN. They appreciate leaders that show vision and are willing to follow their lead. I have observed this on an international level at the UN and on a national level also. My message to the mayors and senior council staff was that such leadership is also what their constituents want from them.
Paul Budde
See also:
Australia – National Broadband Network – Municipal and Community Networks
Australia – National Broadband Network – Rollout and Pricing Strategies
Australia – National Broadband Network – First Release Sites and Black Spots
Australia – National Broadband Network – Digital Economy
Global – Fast Broadband and Trans-sector Policy Development
Australia – The Internet of Things
Tagged in: Australia, Bendigo, Broadband, Mildura, NBN, Robinvale, Swan Hill, Victoria
