Shadow Minister:"In a decade, the fiber may well be redundant."

As I said...

Considering that the NBN roll out is only planned over the next decade, there is plenty of time.

Increasing the number of towers is far cheaper than burying cables.

I'm not so sure, Shadow Minister.

>>I see that Telstra has ramped up the capabilities of its wireless systems, now offering 20Mb/s. This is up from 7Mb/s only a few years ago. The prices are still more than fixed line but coming down fast. In a decade, the fiber may well be redundant.<<

Fiber optic cable has two distinct advantages over wireless. The first is that it is capable of handling substantially greater bandwidth, and requires little maintenance. Speeds can also be enhanced over time with improved endpoint technology, so there is built-in expansion capability within the same fiber.

Secondly, wireless connectivity is subject to significant variation in performance, due to its inherent susceptibility to noise and other unwanted signals.

The two are of course not by any means mutually exclusive. Both will continue to be used for different applications and for different personal and business requirements.

But there is a zero chance that fiber will be "redundant" at any point in the foreseeable future.

As a replacement for copper - which is a reasonable objective all on its own - it is a sound and sensible technology choice. This view is supported by Masayoshi Son, CEO of Japan's Softbank/Vodaphone K.K., who states that "Copper networks more than 20 years old should be taken away and 100% replaced with a new fibre network".

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/10492183 (n.b. video)

The remark comes around 36:40, in response to a question from an Australian journalist.

Pericles,

Maybe I should rephrase my earlier statement. Fiber may well become redundant to houses.

Mobile phones are now coming with Wifi connectivity, so that one can make a phone call using your mobile on your broad band rather than you mobile contract.

At this point, wireless will offer roaming broadband, home and mobile telephony. Signing up to a fixed line would as inconceivable as not having a mobile phone, and the only reason for fixed connectivity would be for super fast bandwidth in Gbps.

Fibre Optics will not become redundant; a majority of projects and designs on the table easily make use of this technology better.

We on the curb of Sci fi when it comes to technology, working out the bugs you might say..

This is a benefit and helps these projects realise their potential.

in 1932 11,000 vehicles used the Sydney Harbour Bridge

in 2009 160,000 crossed the bridge....... each day!

just as well they made it more than one lane each way

as Bill Gates once said the internet today is like cars were in 1910

how many people here have shares in Amazon or Google or Microsoft?