Broadband Reform: Be Heard
A major hindrance to the effectiveness of government-run public consultations is that most of us often have no idea just how much we actually care until it's too late.
A major hindrance to the effectiveness of government run public consultations is that most of us often have no idea just how much we actually care until long after submissions have closed and it's all too late.
The Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy is currently hosting a public consultation on their "National Broadband Network: Regulatory Reform for 21st Century Broadband" discussion paper.
Examining this 57 page document, which makes for reading as dry as toast, it is extremely difficult to imagine how anyone other than an industry lobbyist would have even the slightest interest in participating in the public consultation.
Do you feel comfortable commenting off the cuff on Part XIC of the access arrangements from the trade practices act? Hold a strong opinion about regulating spectrum allocation? Want to share your thoughts on divesting the hybrid fibre coaxial network? No… neither do I.
Let me ask you few other questions. Do you care about the reliability of our national emergency line 000? Think it matters that there are laws which will ensure Telstra has to behave competitively? Want some control over the National Broadband provider's ability to walk into your backyard and start digging? Think it's important that country towns have a payphone that works? Yes… I thought some of you might find those questions a little more relevant.
That's why Open Forum is providing a mechanism to streamline public comment on the discussion paper. We wanted to make it simple for people to identify the specific areas that concern them, provide access to the background information which is immediately relevant, and make it quick and easy to have your opinion recorded as part of the government's public consultation. All through May we'll be collecting your thoughts and then compiling them in a report to government.
You shouldn't have to be an expert to have your opinion heard.
It's difficult to predict just how big an impact on our lives this massive government infrastructure project will have. Faster and cheaper broadband is merely the immediate appeal, but it's the as yet unimagined applications it will make possible, which will radicalise both our personal lives and the way we do business.
We'll all be living with and paying for the decisions made about regulating the National Broadband Network for a long time. Now, at the outset we have been invited for a limited time to pipe up, let's seize the opportunity.
There are countless other forum sites where you can have a say, but merely getting something off your chest isn't going to make a lick of difference. Have your say about broadband reform, and get it heard by having your views included in Open Forum's report to government. Start contributing here »»
- Australia's Broadband Regulation: a virtual community roundtable ("Topic of the Month", May 2009)
