BuddeComm Broadband Theatre Presentations - CeBIT 2011
Another successful CeBIT event took place in June 2011, thanks to the hundreds of people who visited us at the BuddeComm Broadband theatre.
Many people enquired about access to the slides from our presentations this year, so we have made these available to view or download. Please click on the links below.
Don't forget our CeBIT specials, see the last slide from each presentation for details.
Paul Budde
Presentations
The NBN - where are we at this stage?
The 2010 federal government election was a cliff-hanger but it was evident that the majority of Australians supported the National Broadband Network (NBN), with surveys indicating over 70% voter support. Research from Access Economics showed a similar result for business demand. It is now full steam ahead for the NBN, but there will be significant pressure in two areas: NBN Co will have to roll out quickly, and the minister who has been placed in charge must ensure that most, if not all, of the 30+ rollout projects have trans-sector pilots attached to them, so as to warrant government investment.
Initiatives were taken along these lines in late 2010.
The key to the success of the NBN is not ‘superfast Internet connectivity’ but ‘economic reform’ and therefore the political capability to get it off the ground is at least as important as technical capacity. While NBN Co is more than able to cover the technical requirements there is currently no strategic system in place to also address the broader economic reforms.
A good start has been the extension of the minister’s portfolio to include the responsibility for ‘Digital Productivity’.
A business plan, including proper financial information, was made available by NBN Co. There will be a focus on regional rollouts and regional application pilots. Under the NBN these projects are up-scalable and this in itself will attract a great deal of business investment of the kind already being entered into by Telstra, Optus, NEC and some of the mid-sized telcos.
The NBN is receiving widespread attention from overseas investors, and international business people are already investigating the business opportunities that the Australian National Broadband Network market can offer.
The question is whether Australian businesses are up to this challenge. Will Australian organisations be able to take the lead and establish a new digital media industry that they can use as a platform to expand their businesses overseas?
As an important part of this the Australian diplomatic service and Austrade will need to increase their efforts to lift Australia’s information and communications technology profile on the international market.
FttH vs. mobile broadband
The mainly politically-driven debate - FttH versus wireless broadband - is spreading uninformed messages and half-truths in the market. And confusing messages from mobile operators are also blurring the picture. All well-informed people confirm that this is a nonsensical debate - both infrastructures will coexist with, and supplement, each other.
The fixed broadband network is the infrastructure needed to meet the needs, both economic and societal, of developed markets. While some people in some developed markets have abandoned their fixed telephone connection in favour of all-mobile solutions, the majority (90%-plus) still have both a fixed and a mobile connection.
This is a clear indication that, despite the confusion, people have discovered for themselves that they need both, and they have intuitively worked out what they use, where and when. The same applies to the various communications applications. Intuitively again, people are using SMS, chat, social media, email, telephone messages and voice-based telephony.
There is no reason to suppose that this will change. Using transport as an example, one method does not replace the other. We walk, and we use bikes, cars, buses, trains, boats and planes without too much discussion or confusion.
And so will wireless broadband and FttH develop in a complementary and harmonious way.
The mobile broadband explosion
The mobile broadband/data market was initially held back by the high cost of data services, inadequate network speeds and inferior mobile interfaces. But as some of these issues are slowly resolved the mobile broadband market is finally gaining momentum.
The key reason for this growth in mobile broadband is the fact that, because of competition and a saturated mobile voice market, the operators are forced to offer very competitive capped data packages. The main driver of growth is affordability and certainty (no bill shock).
This development is complemented and supported by new technologies, like high-speed packet access (HSPA), which are bringing more efficiency to the network and allowing the operators to offer these products.
Nevertheless mass market penetration will be difficult because of a general lack of spectrum available to push all this traffic through - prices therefore will remain relatively high. Also the next upgrade of the technology to long-term evolution (LTE) is essential for this market to develop into a mass market (2012-2015).
Looking at the mobile broadband developments that are becoming available through HSPA we see that carriers are opening up their mobile networks to broadband access, basically abandoning the stranglehold they have held on this market, which had been keeping it closed.
For over a decade the operators tried to limit access though their proprietary portals, often charging content providers 60% of their content revenues for the privilege of using their portals. This strategy has failed due to the fact that, aside from SMS, mobile data services never accounted for more than 3%-5% of mobile revenue.
However, thanks to developments such as the iPhone, carriers are now forced to make basic mobile broadband access available to their users.
Smart Grid/Smart City project
Australia has assumed international leadership with its $100 million Smart Grid/Smart City project, the rollout of which commenced in late 2010.
In early 2009 the Labor government announced the funding for this project under its National Energy Efficiency Initiative and invited consortia to come up with plans. Paul Budde played a key role in this process. He established Smart Grid Australia, the industry alliance that was instrumental in lobbying for the Smart Grid/Smart City initiative.
In late 2009 the implementation study was presented and this has provided a sound basis for the project. The aim was to link 9,500 homes to a smart grid during the period 2010-2013. The project will become the blueprint for a national rollout. In mid-2010 the consortium that was led by EnergyAustralia emerged as the winner, and their plans are already indicating that they will go well beyond the original targets set by the government.
Digital economy and the NBN
What started off in Australia in 2005 has developed into an international groundswell, and BuddeComm is involved as a leading consultant with governments in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand, as well as with the United Nations (ITU/UNESCO).
The main thrust of the activities is the release of untapped social and economic benefits by using broadband as an affordable utility infrastructure to deliver a range of trans-sector services such as healthcare, education and smart grids.
The industry has been working on the applications for the digital economy over a decade, and thousands of projects and pilots have been launched during that period – we call this ‘death by pilots’. Only with strong government leadership can the benefits be secured. On the one hand, a high quality broadband infrastructure is needed, and, on the other, the government must direct the various sectors to use this infrastructure for the delivery of their applications and services.
The end result of all of this will be the establishment of smart buildings, smart cities - and, indeed, smart countries.
Cloud computing and the NBN
Cloud computing remains a hot topic in the ICT industry, and BuddeComm agrees with the view that it has a great future.
However it will still be a fairly long time before it becomes as commonplace as its advocates predict. Leading IT researchers are talking about the size of this market in terms of hundreds of billions of dollars, but the issue is more about timing than size - it may take a decade to fully develop, rather than the few years that some would have us believe.
The development of cloud computing will involve a business transition, and company strategies and policies will need to be changed before its potential can be monetised by businesses. A key factor here is that organisations will have to lift ICT from the level of an infrastructure issue to that of a business opportunity. Cloud computing will need to be seen as a valuable business tool - one that will differentiate the company from others.
The NBN will be critical infrastructure that will boost the reliability, security and the opportunities of cloud computing.
