Monday 20th of November 2006
I have taken to dating my own blogs as blogger always seem to mess up the date and time, I suppose they will get it right now to make me eat my words
Looks like the global joy over China’s easing of restrictions to the free encyclopedia, Wikipedia, could come to a stop as reports indicate Chinese Internet users are blocked once more.
Its my opinion the Chinese want utter control over their inhabitants and this is proving just a tad too much for them they seem to be in a catch 22 situation on off etc.
I am not keen on the Red Chinese Government and I don’t think I ever will be their ordinary people well yes I do wonder why they are putting up with this Autocratic Government of theirs but they are certainly in an unenviable situation.
itwire
Worlds longest Golf drive
So after years of debate on how to dispose of rubbish from the international space station, NASA has come up with the answer - open the back door and fling it out.
Tiger Woods where are you oh and my countryman in self imposed exile Greg Norman.
I think I blogged about space debris before but it surely is becoming a habit to just bin it into space no policing of it in space as yet.
Worlds longest Golf drive yeah right .
During a spacewalk set for Wednesday, cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin plans to use a 6-iron to knock a lightweight golf ball off a tee placed on the top of the Russian docking port at the International Space Station.
The thing is will he get a hole in one nah I don’t think so but the ball could cause considerable damage in my opinion to other space trotters.
It has all been teed up with NASA excuse the pun, but according to what I read here it has been done before by Allen Sheppard on the moon; does that count I wonder.
In 1971 as well he reckoned it went for miles.
A publicity stunt conceived by Toronto golf club maker Element 21 Golf Co. -- to provide a Russian cosmonaut with the equipment he'll need to hit a record-breaking drive in outer space -- will go ahead next week.
Now Australia’s main whinge if you use the internet
ADSL2 fast internet broadband for some American readers who were not aware of it.
There are many of us now who use this medium for business and pleasure.
But we are being thwarted by Telstra AGAIN greedy lot.
I received this in my mail box this morning and went to their site here as sent to me with the info it really told me jack zip to be honest but I do know some companies using it already like prawn net au, my mob is due to get it as well and there are others; one big problem when it comes in it will only be available in cities and suburbs.
One problem is that Telstra own all phone lines here regardless of whether you use another phone provider.
At the moment all broadband connections here are at the cruddy speed of 1.5 Megabytes per second whereas in Europe and the USA it is much faster, this info published below may or may not explain it.
Are youse ready to read ok here we go and please read it to the end I have put some comments of my own in this.
QUOTED from an e-mail sent to me today.
Telstra has shelved plans to roll out an alternative high-speed broadband network unless it can win guarantees from the competition regulator about its terms of operation.
Most market watchers were expecting Telstra chief executive Sol Trujillo to detail plans for a high-speed broadband network at a key strategy briefing tomorrow but AFR has learned that Telstra has no intention of switching on a new and much faster broadband service that is available over the carrier's existing copper network.
Instead, the Telco will hold off until it can get a guarantee from ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel that no competitors will be granted wholesale access to the service, known as ADSL2+, except on what it considers to be commercial terms.
It means that Mr Trujillo's focus tomorrow will be on the new wireless 3G strategy as the key to growth for the business and for its broadband strategy. This is despite problems in acquiring mobile handsets, meaning the choice will be extremely limited — at least initially.
Telstra's refusal to contemplate the rollout of the ADSL2+ network at the moment will heighten tensions with the government, which is already under fire from Labor for presiding over a system that has made Australia a "broadband backwater."
Telstra has capped the speed on its existing fixed-line broadband service, ADSL, at 1.5 megabits per second. Earlier this year, Telstra ditched plans to spend $4 billion building an even faster fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) network, citing lack of regulatory certainty; It followed the failure to reach an acceptable deal with Mr Samuel on FTTN after months of negotiation.
The refusal to proceed with even a more modest version of an upgraded fixed network will mean broadband speeds on fixed lines for most Australian homes will remain at levels now considered unacceptable in most other developed countries.
Telstra is instead promising that it will deliver much faster wireless broadband speeds to 98 per cent of the country on its so-called Next G Network, a $1.1 billion third-generation mobile phone network on the 850 MHz band that is central to Mr Trujillo's turnaround strategy.
I've used 1xEVDO CDMA which is 1mb/s.. and honestly if you have crappy weather the signal will be stuffed...they will have to do a lot more .. like increase tx pwr or something before I sign up for wireless.. it was awfully expensive.. they'd have to offer unlimited plans....before I sign up for wireless.. wireless is a novel idea if the atmos is in sync......and a tx is nearby ...
QUOTE
It says this will deliver speeds of up to 3.6 megabits per second on this service this year and up to 14.4 megabits per second by the first quarter of next year. The Telstra CEO is expected to argue that congestion will not be an issue most of the time for most users.
[ADSL2+ offer speeds up to 24 megabits per second]
That means at launch, the new network will be at least three to five times as fast as the current network. Telstra will simultaneously launch a "black spots" campaign to ensure any problems in coverage are fixed as quickly as possible through adjustment of towers.
Many of Telstra's competitors have installed their own equipment, known as DSLASMs, into Telstra exchanges and are delivering the [ADSL2+] now — but in modest numbers.
Telstra is arguing to the ACCC that the relatively low cost to its rivals of putting in this equipment is another reason there is no need for the service to be "declared" by the competition regulator — which makes it subject to determinations by the regulator about pricing and access for rivals.
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**WARNING: those offended by speculation, estimation, open discussion and the posting of Telstra pricing may be offended **
A few things I have noticed over the past few weeks, and a conclusion I wish to propose.
- Telstra sticking with ADSL1 for the foreseeable future.
- Telstra not using ADSL2 throttled back to ADSL1 speeds to reach more customers.
- Telstra refusing to fix many non ADSL CMUX/RIM's even though they have a captive ROI.
- Telstra marketing 3G as a "broadband option" with pricing on par with Bigpond DSL for low-end users (if line rental is subtracted).
- Telstra not being price competitive with HFC on high end plans.
The outcome I see from all this is:
- Telstra will stick with ADSL1 for a long time to come.
- Telstra will tout HFC and 3G as an alternative to ADSL.
- Because of this, Telstra will be less likely to deploy ADSL in unserviced areas.
- Telstra will use the "everyone wins" line of thinking..... everyone now has access to broadband at good prices (of course, as long as you are a typical Bigpond user).
- Telstra will keep fighting issues that enable the provision of cheap ADSL2.
- Telstra will, by not releasing ADSL2, concentrate on low-end users who are more likely to buy content from Telstra business units and not use things such as VoIP.
- Telstra has accepted that ADSL2 users are of little value to them and will happily let them go to other ISP's.
I actually think many members have got it a bit wrong (!!!) - Telstra actually is not interested in providing fast broadband - it has HFC Extreme and 1500/256 but only really attractive to small section of the market.
It simply wants to concentrate efforts on the masses - the low end users - who will quite happily chug away on low end speeds. They maybe low value but more likely to fall for content ploys and other "portal" like services.
Telstra has simply accepted - and I think this occurred in early September, that fast broadband at competitive prices is simply not for them. Therefore - it simply will not provide it.
Prediction: When will Telstra release ADSL2? When they manage to somehow make the ADSL2 we have today more expensive......... that is what we need to be vigilant about.
Telstra is not in the business of providing cheap and fast broadband (broadband as a cheap commodity = falling Telstra revenue) - and I think after T3 - we are going to see some nasty things emerge
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This highlights Telstra's need for HFC to complement 3G and no doubt without it Telstra would be under significant pressure to roll-out ADSL2+
IMO Telstra will probably hold off as long as possible with ADSL2+ unless it gets some sort of regulatory concession (probably unlikely). I think that it will depend on how successful Optus' ADSL2+ roll-out is. If Telstra starts to lose a significant number of retail customers that it cant cover with HFC and/or wholesale customers that migrate to Optus then Telstra may be forced into the ADSL2+ market whether it likes it or not.
{ I may be one of them as well }
With the "average" BigPond customer on an "equivalent" 512/128 400MB plan its clear that the majority of their own customers don't need ADSL2+ so the pace of change may be quite slow. That may change, however, if Optus aggressively promote ADSL2+ when their roll-out is complete. Optus' DSL Direct pricing is very competitive, particularly at the entry level and if it decides to do a mass media campaign on ADSL2+ then consumer awareness of ADSL2+ may increase and people may start to question why they are paying BigPond $29.95 for 256/64 200MB when they could have 20,000/820 300MB+600MB Shaped for the same price.
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I agree with many of the posters that ADSL2 is not on the agenda for Telstra. As one poster mentioned, Telstra view the next gen as the solution to provide broadband to the masses. Telstra invested 1billion on the HSPD and therefore they will focus on this network to be the prime delivery service for broadband. With that level of invested they have no alternative but to flog this service to customers. Telstra has placed all its eggs in one basket and may pay the price in the future.
Wireless broadband is not in anyway an adequate substitute for fixed line broadband. Wireless is not as stable as fixed line and is more expensive for customers.
IN EFFECT STUFF YOU PAL.
Boy am I glad I ditched them a long time ago, but folk don’t just want piddley 300 Megabytes now even my plan is 10 Gigabytes up and down sadly its only at 1.5 Megs download at 256 KBPS not 64 as written in this report.
