Investment and demand in fiber to the home

There are a couple of threads that, juxtaposed, are interesting. First, Australia moved ahead with its ambitious fiber-based Internet project, and second, this report gives one pause as to whether it would make sense in the US.

So is the US foolish in not making larger investments in infrastructure like our trading parters, is it wise?

The answer is not so simple and certainly not obvious because of the enormous delay involved in rolling out infrastructure. AT&T witnessed this when it signed on as the exclusive carrier of Apple's ground-breaking iPhone. Indeed, they are arguably still trying to make the investments due to the runaway success of the device.

Would the same thing happen with some as-yet unknown device (Device X), except with end user bandwidth? We don't know if Device X exists, or, if it does, what the impact on existing networks would be. The iPhone has shown us that the potential exists, but how can carriers (and their shareholders) be convinced to make large investments based on revenue streams that are highly uncertain at best? Should the government take these risks?

Autsralia's National Broadband Network

In an earlier post, I had discussed Australia's plans for construcing an (apparently) subsidized broadband network. According to this site, proposals for this network will be due in November 2008. Do you think this is a reasonable approach, or should broadband be privately provided by market incentives?

How to construct an undersea cable

In keeping with one of the themes on this blog, you might find this site interesting. You will find a lot of details on what goes into the construction of an undersea cable, along with photos and a detailed progress chart.

Photo essay on laying undersea cable

You might find this item over at CNET interesting. It is a photo essay on how undersea cables are laid.

Australia censoring the Internet?

This article over at TechCrunch reports on a new law in Australia designed to provide a "clean feed" of Internet content into the country. This law is an initiative of the newly elected Labor government. I had blogged earlier about the implications of this election on telecoms ... but I hadn't been aware of this element of the electoral campaign.

I think this points to the tension between information openness and social preferences that every country has to deal with in the Internet age. Do you think that censorship of this kind is an effective way of dealing with it?

Broadband in Australia

You might find this item of interest ... there will be a cabinet level Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. One of the goals of this Minister is to implement the AU$4.7 Billion fiber to the node plan that was one of the promises of the recent election in Australia. So, following up on the point I was arguing here, how would one account for this in the OECD's price of service report? In other words, is it right to compare Verizon's retail price for FiOS (which did not receive a subsidy that I know about) with future services from Telstra and other Australian ISPs (which benefitted from this subsidy)?