A bird's-eye view of new Western European broadband systems shows just how far Australia is lagging behind, and just how much we are missing out on.
Dr Sam Paltridge of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development asked me in his Paris office, 'Guess what you get for $A50 a month from a broadband operator in Paris?' The answer: internet download speeds of up to 24 megabits a second and unlimited downloads, at least 100 television channels in the basic package (and the offer of another 100 channels if you pay extra), unlimited voice-over-internet protocol calls within France, and phone calls to other countries that save heaps - all offered with no maximum contract periods for customers. Paltridge, an expatriate Australian who has worked for the OECD in Paris for the past decade providing research for their much-quoted index of comparative broadband take-up in 30 OECD countries, added: 'How does that speed compare with what's on offer at home?'
First published in The Age, 09 March 2007
Republished in Creative Economy, 14 March 2007