Telecoms & Broadband Business Newsletter - March 2012

Editorial - Booming regional markets

Worldwide we are seeing a revival of regional economies – mainly due to the increased price of agricultural products and minerals, with tourism making an important contribution in some of the regional markets. 

New money is flowing into these communities, with visible results. The trend is universal – excellent developments are taking place in Ethiopia, Argentina, Australia and the USA. 

Late last year I reported on my trip through Central Victoria and in late December I travelled through country New South Wales. 

Comparing these trips with similar ones we have made over the last 30 years, the differences are astonishing. Over the last ten years many of the regional towns have been given a complete overhaul. Modern farms have sprung up on their outskirts, the shops in the towns have been renovated, and new social and economic infrastructure has been built. There is now a great deal of 4- and 5-star accommodation, as well as restaurants and good espressos (a very important KPI).

It is a real treat to enjoy all this in the friendly and relaxed atmosphere of a regional setting. 

As I reported after my trip through Victoria, the professionalism of regional people is equal to their metropolitan counterparts. Modern farmers are well-educated business people; and many of them operate within global market systems. The same applies to the tourism and entertainment businesses. These people demand first-class ICT infrastructure – they see this as one of the most critical parts of their businesses. The absence of access to such infrastructure is a major frustration. 

Given the decline that has taken place in regional retail services offered by national organisations (eg, banks, large retailers, franchisers,), online access is critical to the residents in these areas also.

 I would like to reiterate the message I received from an almond farmer in Mildura: 

I want sensors on all my trees, in the soil and in my water supply. This needs to be processed in real time and I need to have access to this when I am in New York to do my business. 

This man is prepared to dig his own trenches in order to get fibre to the farm. We have reported on similar messages from farmers in New Zealand, the Netherlands and Norway. 

These people most certainly get it. 

Broadband hubs in regional areas are going to become major business centres in their own right, as metropolitan-based businesses reallocate to tap into cost savings that occur when they operate from regional centres. A good example of this is the dental laboratory that is reallocating from Sydney to Woodstock in Central New South Wales. 

Regional areas thrive on small businesses and many professionals in management, design, application developments and so on are attracted to the idea of moving their businesses to regional areas – if they knew that the ICT infrastructure to support them was going to be there. 

It is this level of professionalism that is going to make the difference. It is essential for these communities to have professional people underpinning the local economies; but those professionals need the ICT tools – without them the economic boom will be temporary – unsustainable long-term. 

This applies as much to Ethiopia as it applies to Australia. It is therefore no wonder that the United Nations has made broadband access a key element in its economic and social development policies. True, higher food prices have a negative effect on the less affluent, but if, overall, regional economies can be lifted individual living standards can be improved, helping more people in regional areas to be lifted out of poverty. 

Paul Budde