Taking a closer look at Australia and the way it has changed in the past few years, technologically speaking, it’s clear that the country is on the cusp of a major change with regards to the way Australians do business and the way they communicate. In the coming weeks, months and years, Australia will register a massive increase in the adoption of internet communications, with an notable increase not only in video internet traffic, mobile traffic, but also an increase in networked devices.
In order to support such a great increase in online usage, it’s only natural that an integrated infrastructure using only the latest and most sophisticated technology will be used in order to facilitate high speed broadband connections. Even though the current copper based infrastructure is still acceptable, in a short time Australians’ internet usage will only increase, demand which this current structure will not be able to cope with.
The Decision Makers in Australia Face a Dilemma
It seems that investing in an National Broadband Network (NBN) for Business is a great idea productivity wise, but at the same time it implies a large financial cost which would be a bit hard to cope with given the international financial volatility. Still, patching up an increasingly outdated and aged system in order to avoid the uptake of new technology is still not a great path to tread on for too long.
However, history has shown that any society which will implement the use of new technology when it arrives will receive a great deal of advantages, including strategic, political and economical advantages, over those that delay doing so. Based on this theory alone, these ]investing in this new technology seems to be a good and productive idea. Not only that, but experience proves that the most affordable time for investing in new technology is now, not in a few years time, when the inflationary pressures had influenced the initial cost estimates and the consumers’ pressure for services delivery increases.
A Cost-Benefit Analysis Overview: The New NBN
Before taking a closer look at the options facing Australia, it is best to understand the working definition of “cheaper”. In this context, it should only regard the initial outlay, but also the costs that shareholders and companies extract when they offer infrastructure services; the increased availability of certain services which in other circumstances, would not be available to different parts of Australia; the reduction of expenditure in the long run which will arise from making this massive investment, is also very important and must be seriously taken into consideration.
By 2020, the country will rank in the top 5 Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries in the world, in relation to the percentage of businesses making use of online resource to enable increases in the jobs sector, expand customer base and drive productivity improvements.
Regardless of what part of the country they’re in, the NBN for Business will deliver a more reliable and faster broadband network for every business in Australia. Mostly it will allow not for profit organisations, regional and small businesses to compete in the global marketplace.
Where are we now?
Even though many businesses in Australia do have a website, few of them fully take advantage of the opportunities having an online presence can bring. Just a few years ago the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures showed that only 41,5% of businesses’ in Australia had an online presence and 27,1% actually took orders online.
