Australia’s broadband services are adequate for today’s needs but are not fit for future needs, according to a global survey commissioned by Cisco Systems. The report, compiled for Cisco by Oxford University’s Said Business School and Spain’s Oveido University Department of Applied Economics, appears to have taken no notice of Australia’s National Broadband Network plans.
Australia ranked 32nd out of 66 nations in the survey. It found nine nations Korea, Japan, Sweden, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Netherlands, Romania and Denmark had technology ready for future demands, like high-definition Internet television and video conferencing.
Sixteen other countries, including the US, France and Germany, fell into the second-highest category, rated “comfortable for today”. Australia languished in the third group, under the heading “meeting needs for today”, along with nations like the UK, Poland, New Zealand, Ireland, Italy and Ukraine.
A further 22 nations, including China, Malaysia, South Africa and Thailand were ranked in the lowest group, “Below needs for today”.
The study took into account the download and upload speeds of Internet connections, along with the latency, or delay, in the hookup. Cisco says these measures will be increasingly important in the future as consumers look to take up HD Internet TV and other high-end activities.
