The public policy background on the roll out of highspeed broadband in Australia is here at public opinion. We do need high speed broadband to workonline-- to search for, and access, and distribute online material.

Allan Moir

Some argue that the core of broadband is to download DVD' s in a converged home entertainment environment where the PC, TV, stereo and portable entertainment devices are coming together. So we are being asked to hook the Media Center PC into your home network, attach the outputs to the TV and stereo, the inputs to the cable TV and make sure it's Internet enabled. Of course the flaw of a Media Center PC is that it must be close to your TV to wire them together.

So we are talking about the storage of pictures, music, television shows, videos, and other multimedia on the PC and then downloaded to the tv:

Tamara Voninski

So where is all the online content going to come from? I realize that though there are thousands of broadband TV channels available for live streaming or downloading, broadband television has not taken off in Australia as they have in Europe and Asia because unlimited data broadband internet plans here are very expensive, and video quickly blows any limit.

So are stuck with free to air and the very expensive Foxtel. Channel Nine has blocked the shift to digital to protect its income but with Packer gone things could begin to change.