The Federal Government and private sector will invest up to $43 billion over eight years in a super-fast national broadband network, in the “single biggest infrastructure decision in Australia’s history”.

The significance of this announcement reaches far beyond the actual construction implications. The proposed National Broadband Network will affect how Australian’s do business, communicate, consume media and compete internationally.

There will also be an immediate effect, despite the projected 8 year roll-out, as companies begin positioning for what will be a very different future.

The fibre-to-the-premise network will run to 90% of homes and businesses offering speeds of up to 100 megabits per second. The remaining homes and businesses will be reached via wireless and satellite technologies offering speeds of 12 megabits per second.

Companies with strong online businesses should do well now as their future now seems so much brighter.

Superfast broadband will accelerate the move of content online and media companies with strong online strategies will be the best positioned in this exciting future.

Futurist and digital media commentator Mark Pesce wrote in SMH:

Very high-speed broadband of the kind the Government promises will completely change our expectations for the internet. It’s not simply that pages will load faster (and they may not, as that’s more to do with the computers serving those pages than the computer displaying them), it’s the new things that become possible…..

The next-generation broadband network (NBN) opens up possibilities we can’t even dream of today, because we don’t yet live in the world of super high-speed broadband….

Next-generation smartphones will tie into the network to become our points of presence within a “cloud” of information about ourselves, created by ourselves, and shared with those we love and trust.

Having just returned from two digital media conferences in the USA, and observing media consumption habits there, the National Broadband Network announcement seems very timely. Australia has been lagging behind much of the Western world with our slower Internet speeds, and our current network will clearly not cope with, or accept the demands of emerging media.

Whilst in the US I posted about how web technology is changing the face of television there. Privately, I was lamenting the fact that the existing Australian network probably wouldn’t foster such innovation. Suddenly, that is all about to change.

If traditional media in Australia wasn’t already worried (and they are), then they will be terrified now. Most haven’t positioned themselves well for a digital future. Radio has been avoiding the issue and delaying a digital launch. Television is reluctantly launching this year with half-hearted digital stations. Press has been seeing ad-sales drop rapidly as online eats into their readership and influence. Only Kerry Stokes and his Seven Network seem remotely prepared for change.

Australian businesses must begin taking their digital presence seriously. The game is about to change dramatically and those companies that are prepared will be in a position to make a quantum leap.

Social networks will explode. Web video will be fast and effective and ever-present. Advertising and marketing will change forever. New businesses will be launched at a rapid rate, betting on every aspect of a high speed digital future.

Nobody should under-estimate the implications of the National Broadband Network. We were already at a turning point in history, but it just received a kick-along.

Will you be ready or will you be left behind?

Former RAAF airman Terence Anthony Cheesman, 50, was so traumatised by
the alleged incident that when he heard of the shooting death of
Private Jake Kovco in April last year he left his desk at the Pearce
Air Base north of Perth and vomited, convinced Kovco was the victim of
a prank that went further than the one he claims to have been subjected
to.

Mr Cheesman has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder
over what the Department of Defence calls "the incident" in Qatar in
February 2003. Deemed medically unfit to work by the Royal Australian
Air Force, he was discharged in March this year with a full disability
pension from the Department of Veterans Affairs and given a
repatriation health Gold Card to cover all medical expenses, including
regular counselling.

Mr Cheesman claims there was a "cover-up" after he was bullied with
the 9mm pistol at the al-Udeid Air Base because the officer who was
charged over the incident — and ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing
– was at the time preparing to take part in an important bombing
campaign over Iraq.

Australian Defence Force Inspector-General Geoff Earley has since
overseen a review of the disciplinary hearing that cleared Mr
Cheesman’s superior, finding "no reason to suspect that the matter was
not properly dealt with".

But the married father of two believes the hearing into his
allegations did not call as a witness a flying officer who Mr Cheesman
claimed saw the whole incident. "This has ruined my career and it’s
ruining my life," he said.

Veterans Affairs Minister Bruce Billson told The Weekend Australian
the defence force disciplinary appeal process that heard Mr Cheesman’s
allegations was robust and there was respect for its integrity.

But he said there was an incident in Qatar in February 2003 that
caused Mr Cheesman considerable grief and he had agreed to ask for
certain details of the hearing to which Mr Cheesman had been denied
access. "Mr Cheesman’s (poor) health is not in dispute; in terms of the
causal factors, that is less clear," Mr Billson said.

More than 3260 claims of post-traumatic stress disorder involving
ADF personnel were made to the Department of Veterans Affairs between
2004 and last year, of which 2761 were accepted, according to figures
given to The Weekend Australian.

In a letter to Dr Nelson this week, Mr Cheesman’s lawyers, Hammond
Worthington, claim the officer held his pistol 1.5m from his client’s
head on February 26, 2003, as Mr Cheesman carried out his work as an
aircraft life support fitter.

Mr Cheesman was crouched on the floor sorting out earpiece equipment
in a box when the superior officer returned from a flying mission, the
letter claims.

It is alleged that when the officer complained about the equipment,
Mr Cheesman explained that he was following orders, at which point his
superior allegedly aimed his pistol at Mr Cheesman, who was crouched on
the ground, and said: "And so you should, that is what you are paid for
or we might have to shoot you."

"Mr Cheesman was looking directly up the barrel of the pistol at the
time the pistol was being deliberately aimed at him; (the superior)
then worked the sliding action of the pistol … then said ‘Oh, only
joking’," the letter alleges.

Mr Cheesman said he began to feel "revengeful" towards all bosses
and a Department of Defence workplace disability report last year
described a disruptive and recalcitrant employee.

Squadron leader Stephen O’Halloran noted: "From a professional point
of view, Sergeant Cheesman has my full trust and respect … However,
his attitude to authority and the environment he creates means there is
a constant concern for his overall ability."

Source: The Australian