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May 10, 2003
I have been trying to get connected to broadband this week. I 've signed up, the modem is arrived and a few technical glitches to do with security in the high tech townhouse are being sorted.
But I haven't actually signed up to Broadband even though I live in the commerical district next door to all the lawyers and surrounded by local businesses. I have signed up to some beast called ADSL that is neither one thing nor the other. What that means is that high-speed cable has not laid through the CBD. And I presume that local loops from exchanges to located users in the city where network resources are concentrated are in need of an upgrade. So I pay for Broadband and get something second best.
Its a personal story true. But it is a very good example of the lack of commitment by the state to making Adelaide an integral part of the knowledge economy. Instead of cutting budgets and laying off more public servants the Rann Government ought to be spending on infrastructure for the knowledge-economy or on Adelaide becoming an education city.
Now the Rann Government does have an IT strategy called Information Economy 2002. It is about:
"...creating networks of people, building a connected community where all community members benefit rather than a select few. The most effective way to achieve this is to ensure that all South Australians are encouraged and enabled to participate in the Information Economy, locally, nationally and globally...[Its initiatives are] intended to place South Australia firmly on the map of the new global economy as a centre of connectivity, creativity and entrepreneurial activity—a truly information-enabled society in every way."
Yet the key agency here, the Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology, does not even have its own website! The Information Economy Policy Office website says nothing. The Office of Innovation has nothing online whilst the link to The Information Economy 2002 strategy is broken. Digital Adelaide indeed. Its a joke. No doubt the neo-liberals are cutting the public servants in the The Information Economy Policy and Innovation Office.
Even though there is a council election happening in Adelaide there is very little talk about a digital Adelaide---- not even by by the high profile Michael Harbison, whose website says that he:
"...has thrown himself into the task of revitalising Adelaide in his role as an Adelaide City Councillor and Deputy Lord Mayor. Michael believes that now is the time to lead Adelaide from the front as Lord Mayor."
His priorities for a revitalised Adelaide say nothing about hotwiring Adelaide to make it digital.
What a sorry state of affairs. SA will remain the backward state forever envious of Victoria and NSW. It cannot be like these economic powerhouses because global capital has passed it by. So it needs to develop an alternative regional identity in a globalised world. This is what it is failing to do. It plays areound with all sorts of ideas-----high tech hub, education city, defence centre, knowledge nation-----but none have any traction.
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Gary,
I don't profess to be a technical expert, but my general understanding is that ADSL is equal to and in some ways better than cable (and frequently significantly faster). Moreover, lack of cable access applies fairly generally in commercial/CBD areas throughout Australia (not just Adelaide), simply because cables were laid in high density residential areas where the profitable markets for cable TV were located. Most broadband users nowadays sign up for ADSL. I've had it for a bit over 12 months now, and find it excellent. If I were you, I'd sign up ASAP and get it working. You may find that there are better deals from ISPs other than Telstra too (but be careful that your ISP looks substantial enough to still be around for the whole of your contract length).