Posted on

Bill Morrow slams the door and kicks the dog as he prepares to log off from his dud NBN

By LAURIE PATTON | 29 April 2018

The head of the trouble-plagued NBN, Bill Morrow, is departing. And he’s finally come clean – conceding that reusing Telstra’s ageing copper wires is creating major problems.

In a paper published by NBN Co last week, Morrow admits that fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) is causing lower speeds and more dropouts than the fibre that was originally being rolled out. He also acknowledges that there are too many dissatisfied NBN customers. Continue reading “Bill Morrow slams the door and kicks the dog as he prepares to log off from his dud NBN”

Posted on

Goodbye Bill Morrow, the NBN Nero, who fiddled and raged as it buffered

By LAURIE PATTON | 6 April 2018

With complaints about the NBN’s shonky and inadequate service at an all-time high, and after having made compromises that have “rolled his stomach”, NBN Co CEO Bill Morrow has decided to jump this sinking ship two years before the project’s completion.

Morrow’s tenure in charge of the operation has – to say the least – been turbulent, with the belligerent American being happy to defame and disparage his critics. So long as it’s under the cloak of Parliamentary Privilege. Continue reading “Goodbye Bill Morrow, the NBN Nero, who fiddled and raged as it buffered”

Posted on

Unpopulate or perish — revisiting the Whitlam decentralisation vision in a digital age

One day a rooster, the next day a feather duster!

By LAURIE PATTON | 5 December 2017

On the 45th anniversary of the election of the Whitlam Government let’s reflect on a forward-thinking policy that deserves revisiting for a digitally-enabled world – decentralisation.

It’s predicted that pretty soon 90 percent of all Australians will live in our capital cities. But does it makes sense for most of us to be jammed into a handful of increasingly overcrowded population centres? Continue reading “Unpopulate or perish — revisiting the Whitlam decentralisation vision in a digital age”

Posted on

Taking Smart City agenda to the regions could help Australia’s straining cities

By LAURIE PATTON | 9 November 2017

Among the issues considered at a recent Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat conference was how to deal with increasing urban density without destroying communities’ liveability, and how to increase people’s accessibility to their workplaces.

In The Fifth Estate’s report on the conference, it said: “By 2053, about 89 per cent of all Australians are expected to live in capital cities. As more and more people enter these cities, residents are becoming increasingly concerned with impacts on liveability”.

One of the solutions proposed was to build more public transport systems within cities, and specifically in the case of Sydney to continue the current trend for building new metros.

But does it makes sense for most of us to be jammed into a handful of overcrowded cities?
Continue reading “Taking Smart City agenda to the regions could help Australia’s straining cities”

Posted on

Internet Australia continues to call out #NBNFail amid media attacks

By LAURIE PATTON | 9 August 2017

The years ago, Internet Australia, the NFP peak body representing internet users, embarked on a mission to foster more informed debate about the National Broadband Network and its importance to Australia’s future. It was – and is – the view of the board and members that we need something better than a network deploying ageing copper wires. Most technology journalists already agreed with that proposition.

However, some in the mainstream media took much longer to get the message. As one of my former colleagues from Channel Seven put it, the subject amounted to a lot of “white noise“.  Continue reading “Internet Australia continues to call out #NBNFail amid media attacks”

Posted on

The broadband debacle — NBN Co needs to eat its own dog food

By LAURIE PATTON | 9 August 2017

According to the Australian Financial Review, the company building the National Broadband Network is about to lease two extremely expensive offices — one in Melbourne and one in Sydney.

That’s rather old school thinking. NBN Co should be leading by example. One of the benefits of a digitally-enabled world is the ability to work remotely or to decentralise. Continue reading “The broadband debacle — NBN Co needs to eat its own dog food”

Posted on

NBN boss attacks Internet Australia under Parliamentary privilege

By LAURIE PATTON | 21 June 2017

Earlier in the year the head of the NBN Co, Bill Morrow, was appearing before a Senate Estimates hearing. Asked by Greens Senator Scott Ludlam about his organisation’s habit of blocking people who make unkind comments about his inferior broadband network on social media, Mr Morrow had the first of two ‘brain farts’ in which he gratuitously attacked Internet Australia.

Continue reading “NBN boss attacks Internet Australia under Parliamentary privilege”

Posted on

What ABC’s 7.30 got wrong (and refused to correct) about ‘that’​ Kennett story!

By LAURIE PATTON | 20 February 2017

Faced with an important editorial decision, the ABC‘s managing director Michelle Guthrie went to dinner instead.

In my opinion the incident highlighted a lack of understanding of her responsibilities as editor-in-chief, not to mention those of the organisation’s most senior executive. The ABC needs to be exemplary when it comes to news management.

Continue reading “What ABC’s 7.30 got wrong (and refused to correct) about ‘that’​ Kennett story!”

Posted on

The Internet of Opportunity

By LAURIE PATTON | 4 August 2016

One of the biggest threats to our success as an Internet of Things (IoT) nation is a loss of trust by people at large. We need effective collaboration between government, industry and civil society to ensure we foster innovation in a manner that creates and ensures security and confidence.

Another issue is the need for a 21st Century broadband network. Without one we won’t be able to enjoy the Internet of Opportunity.

Yet, as we consider our IoT future, technology is only part of the equation. Making sure that there is market for newfangled technology and technology based services was a key element that led to the DotCom boom / bust. Too many clever ideas with no serious, or only limited, market interest cruelled many a startup back then.

Continue reading “The Internet of Opportunity”