“as keeping it online ensures..... everyone is using up to date information.” only in Canberra! Try living in regional Australia where internet access is often marginal, if it’s available at all. It’s also expensive.
Your “user case” obviously didn’t include 5am. in an outback motel.
Why didn’t CASA consult this group who could have told them about the “online experience” over much of Australia. The only thing slower is the postal service. At least with a downloadable version, you could keep a copy on a memory stick.
To put it another way, accessing the internet multiple times to look at the VFRG isn’t going to happen at all in regional Australia, so the “up to date data” excuse doesn’t wash.
Wait until they find out.....
https://birrraus.com/
Internet Survey unearths critical need for widespread changes to combat #DataDrought
The Better Internet for Rural, Regional and Remote Australia (BIRRR) Regional Internet Access Survey, released this week, has revealed critical problems with Australia’s current internet options, and warns of long-term consequences if changes are not urgently made.
The survey, distributed through the BIRRR Facebook group, investigates current consumer conditions for people in rural, regional and remote areas of Australia using the internet.
The in-depth report found that rural, regional and remote people are severely disadvantaged in terms of access, speeds, cost and reliability of their internet connections, whether they be via mobile broadband or via satellite.
These issues have had (and continue to have) a dramatic effect on rural, regional and remote peoples business, the education of their children and themselves, and on their personal well-being.
It also illustrates the notion – even with the onset of NBN’s Skymuster – that data growth will soon outgrow the nbn Fair Use Policy that will see 75GB/month peak use data limits on customers.
Among the statistics revealed from this survey:
• Internet in RRR Australia is mainly used for business (Fig 2, p 8)
• 88% of RRR respondents stated current data did not meet their needs (Fig 5, p10)
• Mobile Broadband costs those surveyed an average of $9.27 per GB, with some consumers paying up to $20 per GB. (p18)
• Satellite broadband costs an average of $15.96 per GB, with some consumers paying up to $70 per GB (Table 20, p 28)
• 63% of respondents are shaped more than 6 times per year, with over 40% being shaped every single month. (Table 11 p 19 for mobile, Table 23, p 29 for satellite)
• 74% of mobile broadband users (Fig 11, p21) and 89% of satellite users (Fig 18, p 30) have download speeds under 5Mbps
• 72% of mobile broadband users had to purchase extra equipment at their own cost, usually between $1000 – $2000 (Fig 20, p33)
• 73 % respondents do not have reliable mobile coverage (Fig 20, p33)
• 41% said their address would not register on the NBN database. (Fig 21, p 35)
• 65% of people not confident that they are aware of their nbn options (Fig 23, page 40)
• 92% gave a score of six or above indicating that they would recommend the BIRRR to friends and family (Fig 24, p 41)
BIRRR founder and admin Kristy Sparrow said the results reinforce the need for an independent telecommunications advisory body to help guide consumers through the bush broadband ‘jungle of options and answers’, along with an established universal service guarantee for regional Australians.
“There needs to be an established service guarantee for internet services Australia wide. Service for regional, rural and remote customers should be equitable in terms of speed, download capabilities and costs.
“If this does not occur regional Australia will be left (even further) behind.”