In remote communities access to the Internet is particularly powerful. For example, farmers have access to the same weather forecasting data as the Bureau Of Meteorology (BOM). Indigenous Arts Centres can send photos of their work to a gallery instantly and receive an order. In a remote context, information-flow makes life-changing differences.
Many Australians have realised “I can work anywhere (and only where) there is access the Internet”. Commuting and travel are increasingly required to the closest Internet access that has enough information-flow (bandwidth) for the task. For example driving to the top of the hill for cell-phone reception, or walking to the local library for online research and photo uploading.
The NBN has the potential to make high information-flow locations closer to everyone and more accessible. National cultural policy must address this as urgent and vital, it will make the suburban, regional and country areas more valuable, interesting and live able.
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