The story
Early days
Australia was recognised as part of the Internet when the.au domain (ccTLD) was delegated to Robert Elz of the Australian Computing Science Network (ACSNet) in March 1986. From then on various universities connected intermittently (mostly via dialup UUCP links) to allow for the sending and receiving of email links and for use by emerging newsgroup facilities. Prior to IP-based connection to the greater Internet, there existed a message-based network, linking academic institutions within Australia, known as ACSNet, using the.oz domain and connected to international networks using other technologies. When Australia was fully integrated into the Internet, this domain was moved under.au to become.oz.au and still exists today.
The first permanent circuit connecting AARNet to ARPANet using TCP/IP over X.25 was established in May 1989. It linked the University of Melbourne with the University of Hawaii via a 2400 bit/s (bits per second) satellite connection. It was later upgraded to 56 kbit/s (kilobits per second), and then 256 kbit/s, at a time during which the US end-point was moved to San Jose at a NASA facility.
In 1992 there were two commercial ISPs competing with one another. DIALix provided services to Perth, and the other was Pegasus Networks in Byron Bay. In late 1994 the Telstra team led by Max Bosotti commenced negotiations to acquire all the assets of AARNet and establish a fully fledged commercial operation. Under AARNet the internet link to the node in Los Angeles consisted of a 1.5 Mbit/s link, accommodating all the dial-up services for Australia. After extensive negotiations with the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee (AVCC) Telstra Internet commenced operation out of Canberra on 1 July 1995. Prior to this operation the tariffs charged by the then small internet providers was based on time used on the service. Telstra Internet developed a world first tariff in charging by megabits downloaded, soon acclaimed by the rest of the world which followed suit. Some three months after Telstra Internet became operational a new link to the USA was purchased bringing the capacity to 45 Mbit/s and followed three months later by an additional 45 Mbit/s link such was the growth of the internet in 1995/96.
A further early provider was the not-for-profit Australian Public Access Network Association (APANA). Founded in 1992 by Mark Gregson, APANA ran many small, widely dispersed gratis hosts for bulletin board systems and newsgroups, but developed into a provider of low-cost, non-commercial access to the Internet for its members.
First broadband
In the mid-late 1990s, Telstra and Optus rolled-out separate cable Internet services, focusing on the east coast. The first broadband service over HFC was around 1995 using the Motorola proprietary protocols. In around 2000 DOCSIS was rolled out then in around 2008 the HFC was upgraded to support 30 Mbit/s. In 2000, the first consumer ADSL services were made available via Telstra Bigpond, at speeds of 256/64 kbit/s (downstream/upstream), 512/128 kbit/s, and 1500/256 kbit/s. Telstra chose to artificially limit all ADSL speeds to a maximum of 1500/256 kbit/s. As ADSL required access to the telephone exchange and the copper line – which only Telstra had – this allowed Telstra to be dominant due to the expense of roll-out for other companies and Telstra's established customer base. Other ISPs followed suit soon after; offering a Telstra Wholesale–based service.
Internet Peering
In 1995, the Western Australian Internet Association (WAIA) was formed (now known as the Internet Association of Australia), and in 1997 it launched one of the first peering points in the country with the Western Australian Internet Exchange service.
Competition, faster broadband
Gradually, larger ISPs began taking over more of the delivery infrastructure themselves by taking advantage of regulated access to the unconditioned local loop. As well as significantly reducing costs, it gave the service providers complete control of their own service networks, other than the copper pair (phone line from the exchange to the customer). The first competition to Telstra's DSLAMs was provided by then Optus subsidiary XYZed, launching business-grade xDSL services from 50 exchanges in September 2000. Competition in the residential infrastructure market began in 2003, when Adelaide-based ISP Internode installed a DSLAM in the town of Meningie, South Australia. Several other service providers have since begun deploying their own DSLAMs. The presence of non-Telstra DSLAMs allowed the service providers to control the speed of connection, and most offered "uncapped" speeds, allowing the customers to connect at whatever speed their copper pair would allow, up to 8 Mbit/s. Ratification of ADSL2 and ADSL2+ increased the maximum to 12 Mbit/s, then 24 Mbit/s.
In 2005, Telstra announced it would invest A$210 million in upgrading all of its ADSL exchanges to support ADSL2+ by mid-2006, though they did not say whether they would continue to restrict access speeds. However, in 2006, they announced new intentions to substantially alter their copper phone network and set up a Fibre to the Node (FTTN) network. This was later scrapped, with Telstra citing regulations forcing it to provide cheap wholesale access to its competitors as the reason not to invest in upgrading their network.
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In late 2006, Telstra uncapped its retail and wholesale ADSL offerings to the maximum attainable speed of ADSL to 8 Mbit/s, however with a limited 384 kbit/s upstream speed. This has allowed many Australians access to higher speed broadband, while the comparatively lower wholesale rates discouraged competitive infrastructure investment in most cases.
Wireless broadband in Australia is widespread, with many point-to-point fixed wireless broadband providers serving broadband-poor regional and rural areas, predominantly with Motorola Canopy and WiMAX technologies. Telstra's 2006 introduction of the Next G HSPA network (which reportedly covers 99% of the Australian population as of September 2008) with speeds advertised of being up to 14 Mbit/s stimulated investment in wireless broadband by competitors Optus, Vodafone and Hutchison Telecommunications, who are presently expanding their HSPA networks to cover 96–98% of the Australian population.
Delivering broadband to rural areas
Delivering competitive telecommunications services to regional and rural areas is a major issue, with Telstra often providing the only telecommunications backhaul transmission infrastructure. The large distance and small population means that providers interested in serving these areas often must invest large amounts of capital with low returns. Agile Communications is a pioneer of deploying cost-effective, competitive backhaul networks including their own microwave network in rural South Australia. Internode has been active in increasing access in order to be accessible to more people, spending $3.5 million. This expansion will include both "wireless and fixed line-broadband (ADSL 2+)".
In June 2006, the Australian Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA) under the then coalition government called for expressions of interest for discussion of how to invest up to $878 million in funding under Broadband Connect program to provide greater access to broadband services in rural and regional areas at prices comparable to services available in metropolitan areas, $500 million of which was envisaged as being available to infrastructure projects. On 21 September 2006, the government announced they would invest up to $600 million in broadband infrastructure projects in rural, regional and remote Australia under this program. Applications for funding were open until 30 November. On 18 June 2007, in the lead up to a federal election, OPEL Networks was announced as the sole successful bidder, receiving the entire $600 million in funding under the program, as well as an additional allocation of $358 million. This was to be combined with $917 million to be invested by the OPEL Networks joint venture. The awarding of additional funding was met with some debate. The funding agreement was signed on 9 September 2007, which was dependent upon further planning by OPEL and confirmation that it would reach the agreed levels of coverage. The then federal opposition communications spokesman stated that they would honour the agreement, a stance maintained after winning government two months later, despite their own competing National Broadband Network proposal.
We have said all along, will honour existing contracts. There are a number of performance hurdles the OPEL contracts have to meet. That's all part of the contract.
On 2 April 2008, it was announced that the funding agreement for Opel Networks had been cancelled. The minister cited OPEL's failure to meet the terms of the contract, a claim refuted by the OPEL joint venture partners, who nevertheless stated that the project would not proceed.
Innovation in broadband delivery
In November 2007 the first Naked DSL product was announced by iiNet. Shortly after this other internet providers also started to provide DSL products without telephony service over copper, reducing line rental fees.
2003: Broadband Advisory Group
In a report released on 22 January 2003 the government of prime minister John Howard's Broadband Advisory Group (BAG) recommended the Federal Government work with other governments and industry stakeholders to form a 'national broadband network'. A subsequent Senate committee recommend the federal government replace the 'increasingly obsolete' copper network with a new network based on fibre to the node (FTTN) or alternative technologies.
Telstra Copper Upgrade proposal 2005
On 15 November 2005 Telstra, the owner of the national copper network, announced a plan to upgrade its ageing networks, including a rollout of a fibre to the node (FTTN) network. At the time, the Federal Government was the majority shareholder of Telstra, but the plan did not involve any additional government investment. The rollout was later put on hold after the Howard government refused to exempt the new network from laws requiring third party access, instead saying Telstra could achieve the exemption by applying to the competition regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). Telstra dropped plans for the new network on 7 August 2006, after reaching an impasse in negotiations with the ACCC. Former ACCC chairman, Graeme Samuel later said the proposal was 'an illusion on cost and on the capacity to truly deliver high-speed broadband to end users'.
Broadband Connect Policy and OPEL Networks 2006/07
In June 2006 the Broadband Connect policy was announced by the Howard government with an aim of providing greater access to broadband services in rural and regional areas.
OPEL Networks—a 50–50 joint venture between Optus and Elders—was announced on 18 June 2007 as the sole successful bidder in tender.
However, on 2 April 2008 communications minister Stephen Conroy of the then recently elected government of prime minister Kevin Rudd, terminated the agreement because OPEL had 'failed to meet the terms of [the] contract'.
G9 Consortium 2007
Nine telecommunications companies—AAPT, Internode, iiNet, Macquarie Telecom, Optus, PowerTel, Primus, Soul and TransACT, formerly known as G9—proposed its own FTTN network on 20 April 2007, however, it was rejected by the ACCC on 17 December 2007 because of future unknown conditions for access.
From Wikipedia’s article on Connect.com.au, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3