Crisis of innovation: looking elsewhere

Considerable attention has been given in recent months to the complexity of issues surrounding broadband policy for Australia. While there appears to be widespread support that Australia needs to move from what might presently be called 'rudimentary' or possibly 'adequate' broadband, and largely only for urban dwellers, there are many calls for the urgent availability of 'enabling' broadband. The unravelling of these terms depends upon what users expect from broadband, what speeds they require, and how much they are prepared to pay for the service. There is widespread perception, however, that Australia currently remains in the slow lane for broadband by international comparison, and concerns in many quarters about how problems are being addressed to change this situation. There are policy and regulatory problems, complex issues facing system operators, reluctance by investors to risk the substantial capital required to build the infrastructure, tough choices relating to modes and practices of delivery, and doubts about the possible level of acceptance and take-up by the end users. This paper supports the view that while it is in the national interest to work towards a 'broadband for all' policy, it argues that Australia currently faces a crisis of innovation in telecommunications. The nature of this crisis in the context of broadband is discussed in this paper around three themes: 1. The 'bottlenecks' that have emerged subsequent to the introduction of the public policy model of Open Competition for Australian telecommunications from July 1997. 2. The issues associated with network access and investment, affordability and broadband speed . 3. The complexities facing system operators to understand and create user demand. [Introduction]