Ok, I know we asked for your help in regard to our “#MyBroadbandvReality submission to the Senate Select Committee on the National Broadband Network”, and we appreciated all the help we received, but our crusade is not over yet. We beg your indulgence to consider helping us with your input yet again ;-)
We pretty much ascertained when compiling our data & reading the comments from participants to the survey that we are all using the Internet very differently and that it is pretty much a piece of essential infrastructure now, just like Electricy, Roads, Water etc... Yet, on the weekend when I did a talk about our submission (which was pretty cool to be asked to address), when I mentioned it was that important, quite a few in the room were not so sure & thought I was being a tad extreme, until that is, I gave examples from the submission, then it was like a light went off.
Now, we all know that the Government seems to infer that we don’t need fast or stable Internet access as most of us are just ‘playing’ on twitter, it is made out that upgrading the infrastructure to have a true NBN with Fibre to the Premises is a ‘luxury’ the nation can’t afford. We beg to differ, it is a future piece of Infrastructure we can’t afford to be without. The Government itself proudly tweets:
96% of Australian internet users have used online government services in the last two years via @australian http://t.co/tqx9ByFhrk
— Dept. Communications (@CommsAu) March 7, 2014
I myself also see many tweets on my work account in regard to: please visit xyz website to make tendering easier, or for new details on legislation covering xyz please visit... So our very own Government is encouraging us to use the Internet more, yet, it seems they are not very interested in actually helping us to do so? In fact, with the state of some copper networks & congestion 
in faster growing areas, we are going backwards in the ability to access exactly what the Govt is promoting?
I would like to help change this view that the Internet is a luxury. To do this I need your help please?
We need to know what exactly you use the Internet for? Now you will have to think about this, as even a desk jockey like me forgot the most basic things like checking the work bank account daily to ensure our accounts are up to date? Checking where we are at with paying off the Electricity Bill UGH! Stuff like my daughter due to health & financial reasons is doing her 2nd year of Uni via Open Universities (don’t even start me on our losing the net 5 mins right before her very first lecture last week). A friend mentioned frustration about not being able to use the Black Dog mental health programme available online out west, which when you are already in an awful situation just added to the frustration & hopelessness - shocking situation in a region with little professional help available & yet to access free online help is also stymied - Kids emailing in drafts of assignments to teachers, you name it...
Many of us are using our Internet connections both at work & personally for a variety of reasons, so I would like to get the biggest & most comprehensive list possible as to what People are really using the Internet for, both professionally & personally.
If you could put in the below comments as many examples of your ‘real-life’ internet usage, that would be appreciated, think carefully as many things you do, you actually take for granted now & don’t think of it as anything out of the ordinary?? Of course if you have an issue using Disqus because of a setting on your computer, please feel free to ‘email me’ and I will add to the below on your behalf (note if you would prefer your comment be anonymous that is fine, it will be entered as such). If you could also disseminate this further for people to give us as much feedback as possible that would also be really appreciated.
We really want to be able to show the Government that for Work & Personal reasons that fast, stable internet connections with a decent upload & download speed is imperative, not a luxury, so we would really appreciate your help with this :)
Thanks heaps,
Noely
PS Remember what you do on your Smartphone, iPad or Tablet is still using the internet so don't forget those ;-)
Just to annoy you... Mr Turnbull thinks it is too difficult to have FTTP throughout our wide brown land, BUT "Telekom Indonesia will roll out fibre to the premises to at least million homes across 17,000 islands in Indonesia." read "Alcatel tapped for Indonesia's Conrovian FttP rollout" SIGH :(
NOTE: Disqus have finally responded: "Intermittent availability in AUS Region for Disqus comments, it is being address by Disqus"
I really do want your comments so if you can't use the system below, please email me directly & I will toss up online for you :)
