Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: It's not funny because it's our money

146 Responses

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  • merc,

    Sometimes I wonder if we would have had fibre by now if they hadn't sold Telecom. Then I remembered how State asett sales are good for us.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • Lilith __, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    maybe not that stirring…

    It’s no Gaudeamus igitur !

    ETA: the line Nos habebit humus does not mean We have the hummus :-)

    Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    fibre in the ground is fibre in the ground

    It's presumably got a lifecycle and will one day be obsoleted. (and the termination kit will age a whole lot quicker).

    Personally, I'd have thought a Fibre-To-The-Lamppost technology with wireless of some kind for the "last 20m" would have worked better. That way, there's no/less premise equipment, no/less marginal cost of connection and the ability to offer free trials.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to merc,

    We would have had more fibre completed if Steven Joyce hadn't sat around negotiating for an extra 3 years. At least a decade earlier if Williamson were less of a chump. And even before that if Prebble, Douglas and co were living in the real world rather than a neolib fairyland (and if the unions actually fought them rather than rolled over).

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Islander, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    Which is what we got in Big O well over a decade ago...

    (fibre-to-lamp-post...well, power& telephone pole, there being no lamp-posts round here...)

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    wireless of some kind for the "last 20m"

    not nearly the same performance as fibre, is it?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Islander, in reply to Sacha,

    We got fibreoptic right to each house ....)

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • merc, in reply to Sacha,

    It's a question of what is needed for what. Copper is really good. Software can be bloated. Use. Sometimes I wonder whether we haven't been sold a huge technology dummy that has suited Govt. and some few individuals. It's the whole railway steam engine thing for me.
    And as for State asset sales, is it wrong to question whether they have provided any real benefit to you and me?
    Can we afford the Govt. we have? Let alone trust them.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Islander,

    but that's not the same as wireless for the last part

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to merc,

    wonder whether we haven't been sold a huge technology dummy

    experts seem in agreement it's a good idea

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • merc, in reply to Sacha,

    LOL, rain follows the plough. Maybe we will look back on these years, if we have that chance and we will say, boy did we miss a huge chance there. Trying to do the same things over and over for the same outcomes.
    We could have evened up the whole world. /in a melting pot/ ;-)

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz, in reply to Sacha,

    not nearly the same performance as fibre, is it?

    You'd be surprised. 5Gbits enough for you?

    More prosaically, 802.11n does 300Mbit/s. I'm getting 144Mbit right now. That's faster than UFB mandates, even on out-of-the-box technology.

    What it wouldn't do is allow the digerati, when they meet their global mates at CatCon* or DivStock** to boast about how NZ has universal fibre to the home.

    *CatCon - the leading unconference for users of the Linux cat command.
    **DivStock - same, but for the DIV tag.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Jane Pearson, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    You make me laugh, Ian.

    Since Feb 2010 • 28 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    latency?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to merc,

    LOL

    if that's your response to a professional consensus, we'd best not talk about climate change.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • merc, in reply to Sacha,

    I lived too long to simply take the word expert seriously. Technology should serve, not enslave, and the mute dedication to it belies a dangerous intent.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    The fibre to the post and Gigabit wi-fi to the home seems ideal to me, especially considering the RBI is only promising 1mbps to the home ( PDF)
    In fact, if you read that PDF you may well come away thinking we may well have been sold a pup.
    When they say things like...

    ok, what’s the big deal?
    It’s fast internet, right? Why are people so excited about it and investing all this money? It’s because UFB is about so much more
    than just fast internet. It’s about what will happen as a result of being able to process this amount of data this quickly. People
    are excited not only because it will allow us to do all of the things we can imagine from a higher bandwidth – for example,
    super-high-quality video calling to our families, friends and business colleagues overseas. They’re excited because it will allow us
    to do things we can’t yet imagine.

    And you realise that we are being told this by the people that manufacture the gear, you begin to wonder.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to Sacha,

    latency?

    Took you 25 mins to answer.
    ;-)

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • DexterX, in reply to merc,

    The only question for Govt's is, how do we control it? The second question we should ask is, why are they not telling us of the risks involved?
    The time has moved on, the electoral system has not kept pace.

    With the coalition partners being ruled by self interest the MMP system has handed a FPP result to the Nats.

    The injection into capital markets heralded as a primary reason as to why selling our Power Generation to us is good - will take money out of NZ term deposits and place it in the hands of the Government.

    The joke is on and other than bewail the fact there is not much to be done.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1224 posts Report Reply

  • merc, in reply to DexterX,

    The joke is on and other than bewail the fact there is not much to be done.

    I agree, I wonder where the money will go.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    Even though wireless has made big strides, fixed lines will still be king for a while yet, and latency is the biggie. More than 25 years after the anti-trusting of Ma Bell, it's still the case with America's telco infrastructure.

    Opponents of unbundling, including Bruce Sheppard and Roger Douglas, commonly believed that wireless broadband would displace cables in the ground. The noobs.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • DexterX, in reply to merc,

    I wonder where the money will go.

    Nowhere significant - I could be wrong but I don't think it is ear marked for anything in particular.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1224 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz, in reply to merc,

    Not to mention that the experts in question are making predictions about economics without being economists, about sociology without being sociologists and about engineering without being engineers. I'd trust an expert in a scientific discipline on the specific subject they're qualified in. Someone who folk on the internet think to be one of the cool kids, less so.

    Personally, I have a degree in Comp Sci and thirty-odd years experience, and have been using data circuits since the late 80's. I don't consider myself an expert though, just able to find and interpret information.

    Wireless doesn't have intrinsically worse latency than wired (the speed of light is after all faster in air than glass) - practical protocols do have worse latency, but not unacceptable, unless you have a real need to zap your enemy inside milliseconds.

    And I don't think our economic future hinges on winning at WoW.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    And I don't think our economic future hinges on winning at WoW.

    No one loses in WoW.

    ETA: Or wins.
    ETA2: There is some appeal to finally becoming a LPB, though

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • stephen walker, in reply to Steve Barnes,

    Steve, after seeing that excerpt, there's no way i'd open the pdf.in the space of a couple of decades, nz society has been reduced to the level of half-cut pub banter that someone is paid to produce...

    nagano • Since Nov 2006 • 646 posts Report Reply

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