March 2008 has been a month of revelation.

I started this year with a strong commitment to industry dialogue and as the third month of 2008 draws to a close I am filled with a renewed belief that we are on the verge of a new era in internet based communications.

Sponsorship of the Communications Alliance Broadband and Beyond conference in Sydney and attendance at the Carrier World Asia conference in Hong Kong have thrown up some very useful industry commentary. 

On March 3 and 4 Telstra Wholesale and Communications Alliance co-sponsored the Australian Communications industry conference 2008: Broadband and Beyond.

Over two days more than 20 speakers from local and international IT, media and telco companies spoke about future business models in the rapidly changing high-speed broadband world.

With the Federal Government in the middle of its planned review of a national FTTN network high-speed broadband was the buzz word at the two day event and many agreed with me that now more than ever is the right time for the entire industry to debate and discuss the whole broadband issue. It is time for the industry to mature and take control of its own future.

Key themes that emerged over the two days were:

• The demands of the “new millennials” (that’s young people who have grown up with technology) and how digital content is vital to them;
• The importance of consumers being able to personalise their own content to suit their own time, interest and devices;
• Consumers want simplicity and services that work;
• Content is driving the huge demand for bandwidth but so is the ‘conversation’ people are having online via social network sites like Myspace and YouTube;
• High-speed broadband networks cost a lot of money and need to provide investors with a return on their investment.

Speakers from South Africa, Sweden, Norway, France and the United States shared information about high bandwidth strategies and the services they are providing to their customers.

Communications Alliance CEO Anne Hurley said she was extremely happy with the enthusiasm displayed by everyone who attended.

It was a very successful two days.

Carriers World Asia 2008

The following week on 11 and 12 March, I attended the Carriers World Asia 2008 conference in Hong Kong which is the largest gathering of carriers in the Asia Pacific region.

Broadband was on the agenda there too. So was convergence. As was the increasing demand for mobile backhaul as mobile data usage increases across the region.

With many Asian economies now performing well and looking for improved telecommunications infrastructure, the opportunities for growth in Asian markets was also a topic of discussion.

The Olympic games in Beijing and the size of the challenges in preparing for it in light of the fact that this is likely to be the first Olympics where video streaming, not just the demand from TV networks, will be contributing to the coverage. The challenges in trying to make sure that the infrastructure and capacity needs of competing modes of communication will be able to be met is a first for this Olympics. Just shows how much things have changed, even since the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

Many countries throughout the Asia Pacific region are thinking seriously about their future needs.

There were many competing views around whether underlying infrastructure provision just becomes commoditised, or whether in a world where people are beginning to understand the importance of quality and reliability we will end up with more varied quality and service options, even in relation to things like transmission.

The key themes that emerged were an increasing demand for capacity driven by the popularity of megabit hungry file sharing sites like Youtube and Myspace. Even more demand for capacity as more users come online in China, Asia and India. And the growing demand for reliable and robust carrier services for large overseas carriers and also large global customers who need safe and secure transport, storage and downloads for all of their sites.

While our local geographic, commercial and political circumstances differ in Australia, I believe we can learn from the commercial experiences of others. Many people commented on the opportunity that we have as a gateway into Asia.

Go to the edited Broadband and Beyond speaker videos to hear what 10 industry experts had to say about convergence, content, high speed broadband and the commercial challenges that lie ahead.

You can also read a copy of my presentation to Carriers World Asia 2008.

Kate McKenzie
Group Managing Director
Telstra Wholesale