The NBN – Australian National Broadband Network – It will be fantastic

The NBN planned by the Australian Government will just be a fantastic piece of infrastructure that will enhance business, education, entertainment, health, communications, security, etc. It will be a fundamental underlying infrastructure that will greatly facilitate the way we operate today.

Think for a minute how life and business was just a few years back without email, without mobile phones, without PDAs (Blackberries and iPhones), without a web browser (not eBay, Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc)…. Then remember how the same was using a modem at 1200 BPS, then 9,600 BPS, then 19,200, GPRS, 3G… voila!!!

What we got today in terms of Google Earth, Google Street view, GPS, Maps, online shopping, online marketing, etc, is going to be nothing compared with what we could do with a NBN.

Imagine your telephony over the same infrastructure, no more those old landline expensive phones. Imagine boundary less online shopping, fast and effective, image and video for everything.

Imagine photography and image distribution at speeds not known to us, exchanging X-RAYS, Ultrasounds, scans and all sort of medical data, regardless of where you are at great speed, quality and timeliness.

Imagine smaller cities as people will be able to work more and more from smaller offices and home, reducing the need for so much real estate, where people can communicate via web cams at effective speed, quality and cost. Same can be said for commuting, the need for it will decrease.

Learning and education will be put upside down. The effectiveness of online learning by high definition audio and imaging will revolutionise learning.

The buying process will become even more sophisticated due to the availability of more comprehensive information about the products and services that we are interested in, by been able to see videos, maps, plans, configurations, schemas, models, etc of the product we want to buy.

Health services will change dramatically. If we also expect our medical Doctors to move with the times, they could provide excellent, prompt, timely and effective medical service across the NBN.

Physical security will be improved dramatically with proactive monitoring of schools, homes, workplaces and assets. This will reduce policing needs and improve response times to crimes.

Remote and centralised monitoring and management of IT infrastructure, assets, properties, farms, animals, marine items, flora, fauna, kids, etc, will be able to be monitored and managed remotely, communicating both ways in a fast and effective way.

Tourism will be enhanced significantly as people will be able to better research holiday destinations and whilst on holidays, access their normal facilities any where they are in the country.

More and more SaaS (Software as a Service - like PicNet’s Risk Shield) solutions will be built, reducing the need for expensive licenced software to be developed, maintained and supported.

Government business will improve by allowing better and fast communication between the public and government (big ask!)

Web Sites will be comprehensively improved and new technologies will evolve allowing even more effective communication between computers, people and institutions.

Integration of technologies will continue to evolve and the NBN will also play a role in facilitating the integration of mobile, internet, video, computing, photography, etc.

We should expect huge productivity improvements in the work place, manufacturing and services fields, by the use of the NBN’s services, facilities and infrastructure.

We can’t imagine yet all of the new offerings and opportunities that the NBN will bring. We are just touching the surface. Human creativity will take it to levels we can’t even think of today. Expect a revolution in all of the above plus TV, Movies, access (VPN, WAN), business interconnectivity, social interaction and human behaviour.

Unfortunately, new criminal activities will also emerge as criminal minds also take advantage of the opportunities delivered by the NBN. We hope the designers do not forget this element and pre-empt these activities as much as they can.

Another concern… The Windsor Road in NSW (2 lanes highway) took decades to be built… I wonder how long it will take the superhighway (NBN)? I hope I live long enough to see it done!