Regional Australians are being shut out of the information economy because of the lack of access to high-speed internet connections and poor marketing to stimulate broadband demand, according to a UQ researcher.
The warning comes from Social Science PhD student Alicia Cameron who has been studying why some regions lag behind others in broadband uptake.
Her thesis: Impediments and Enablers to the Diffusion of Broadband and Associated Digital Technology in Non-Metropolitan Australia, reveals there are many hurdles to improving Australia’s interconnectivity.
Ms Cameron said the main reason was lack of access to Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Lines (ADSL) on existing copper phone lines.
She said other reasons were: the lack of telecommunications competition, the historical lag in broadband uptake in regions compared to cities and a lack of marketing and programs to encourage broadband use.
Regions had lower levels of workplace training and Government offices were often their only way of providing technology training and exposure.
“I don’t think there are many enabling policies in Australia which actually view regional areas as being participants in the information economy,” Ms Cameron said.
She said broadband costs were less of an issue as the cost of high-speed connection had fallen by up to $20 a month and businesses were offered discounted calls to sign-up.
Satellite connections were still expensive but wireless connections were the future with some overseas regional connections clocking between 10 and 52 megabytes per second.
“The trouble in Australia is that in most areas wireless services are not there at the moment and the lack of alternative infrastructure and competition especially after Telstra is privatised, may see the current monopolies extended and the provision of new services impeded.”
Last month as part of her research, Ms Cameron attended the World Summit on the future of the internet and studied at the International Telecommunications Union Library in Geneva.
She was awarded a $3100 travel grant from UQ’s Graduate School Research Travel Awards to help her access internet policy and media convergence documents at the Library.
She said the World Summit for the Information Society gave her a global view on the Americanisation of the internet.
Countries such as India, China, South Africa and South America protested because they had to pay the same price as developed countries for internet connections and domain names.
Of the world’s 13 internet route servers, which channel all internet traffic, 10 are in America, two are in Europe and one in Japan.
Ms Cameron said India was told that adding more route servers was not possible for technical reasons, while America suggested that any interference with the current structures might destabilise the internet.
“Private companies which control the route servers in America, Europe and Japan are charging them [developing countries] for access for domain names on the internet and also have the power to monitor the traffic,” Ms Cameron said.
During her 10-day trip, Ms Cameron also interviewed telecommunications experts in Paris and London.
For her research, she also interviewed community and government leaders from 10 industries and surveyed 650 people in the Northern Rivers (NSW) and in Canberra and gathered statistical and journal data from UQ.
She decided on her research topic after living in Lismore and watching its agricultural base shift to a service base that was increasingly “remote controlled” by Canberra and Sydney.
The 35-year-old from West End, Brisbane, plans to finish her PhD in June.
Media: For more information, contact Ms Cameron (mobile: 0421 202 337, telephone: 07 3365 2780, email: a.cameron3@uq.edu.au) or Miguel Holland at UQ Communications (telephone: 07 3365 2619, email: m.holland@uq.edu.au).
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