Hostworks managing director Marty Gauvin warned the incoming Rudd Labor Government that Australia’s ability to compete internationally was being hindered by capacity problems in backbone infrastructure.
If fact, Mr Gauvin said if Labor successfully implements its ambitious ‘last mile’ plans, “it will create a massive online gridlock.”
“The critical issue is not how fast it goes into people’s houses: It is how fast it runs across the country and the speed of backbone data links for commercial service providers like Hostworks,” Mr Gauvin said.
Hostworks is one of the largest enterprise application outsourcing firms in the region, providing hosting and managed services to corporate customers like Network Ten, SBS, News Digital Media, ninemsn, realestate.com.au, SEEK, Ticketek.
“If Australia wants to succeed internationally as the online economy evolves, we need to start thinking much more innovatively. As well as building the infrastructure to support the online population we want, we need strategies to aggregate our online content to make it much more accessible and compelling,” he said.
Mr. Gauvin said the “choke points” created by broadband infrastructure represented a failure of market forces to deliver the best outcome for the country. “If we leave solving this problem to market forces, then Australia will just go backwards,” he said.
“The new government has an opportunity here to demonstrate real leadership. While the bulk of what online consumers want is overseas, Australia will continue to be diminished in its ability to have a content industry based here.
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