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The financial crisis has led to a major rethink on the way that the various political, social and economic systems operate. Instead of repairing broken systems, new approaches are being developed that ...

The financial crisis has led to a major rethink on the way that the various political, social and economic systems operate. Instead of repairing broken systems, new approaches are being developed that are better-suited to the current environment.  Increasingly the market is recognising the importance of telecoms within a range of social and economic applications. As a result telecoms investments now play a key role in most economic stimulus packages. At the same time Internet access and digital media depend on good telecoms infrastructure, and this will drive developments and opportunities in the market. For the next few years mobile will continue to be dominated by voice and SMS. Data access will increase in importance but the current networks are still not suitable for mass market mobile media. In 2010 infrastructure issues will be paramount ' issues such a fibre-based National Broadband Network and wireless networks are the all-important foundation for the digital economy. With government involvement it will be possible to use the telecommunications networks for the national good. BuddeComm has been involved in the generation of government policies around open networks, structural separation and trans-sectoral developments on three continents. In the report we discuss some of the high-level strategic developments occurring as a result of the economic crisis.  At the core of new policy-making is trans-sector thinking ' looking across sectors to create synergy ' and the Australian government is leading the world in this. The report discusses in detail the opportunities within the ICT industries to utilise new telecoms networks for e-health, e-education, smart grids (managing renewables, saving energy), etc. This way of thinking applies across infrastructure projects ' looking at the potential synergies between the building of roads, sewerage systems, water and gas pipe networks as well as telecoms and electricity networks. This also ties in with the initiatives the government has announced since the NBN. And eventually this leads to the concept of smart communities, the development of connected and sustainable communities based on intelligent infrastructure such as broadband (FttH) and smart grids. But trans-sector policies and strategies need to be developed before these smart communities can be built. They can't be built out of the silo structures that currently dominate our thinking; they require a holistic approach, which includes environmental issues such buildings that are self-sufficient in relation to energy, community-based 'exchanges' for renewable energy and e-cars, and the delivery of e-health, e-education, e-government services in addition to digital media and Internet services. The report discusses and provides examples of some of the developments taking place around the world towards building smart cities and communities. Australia is taking a leadership role in these developments. The decision from the government to invest $43 billion in a FttH NBN is a clear indication that it believes broadband infrastructure is a collective good. With its trans-sector multiplier effect it delivers massive social and economic benefits. There is no other way ' if you want to build a digital economy you need FttH, and for that to work it can only be built by a utility. Early indications are that Telstra is going to cooperate are very promising.The new broadband plan offers unprecedented opportunities for Australia ' not just in relation to telecommunications, broadband and the Internet, but also for a range of new applications, most of which we can't even envisage as this point in time. The report addresses the enormous opportunities that this infrastructure, as a utility, has to offer. It also covers the essential high-level issues that need to be addressed. One critical point is that this needs to be perceived as the infrastructure for the digital economy; to simply view it as an upgrade to ADSL broadband would be a grave mi