The government's hand has been tipped, and they have been forced to reveal that the Local Loop will be unbundled.

So what does this mean?

Expect a lot of rhetoric. It's bad for the country. The competition will rely on regulation rather than invest in new technology.

Hmmm.

Whatever we take it to mean, one thing is does mean is that won't be that easy.

ULL gives me access to a network of copper in various grades of condition, from average to really sucky. It will take at least 6 months to implement a new model for the companies to work together, another 6-12 months to implement technology and interconnection points, and so on.

Who says Telecom will be in a hurry to deliver this?

The reality: it's nice to have the copper available at wholesale pricepoint. For the likes of callplus and the other small players it's another way forward. But the reality is that the network still belongs to Telecom, and it will be Telecom that delivers the interconnection model, the staff and the technology to do so. An 'accounting' seperation will need to be

Far better for the bigger operators (Voda and TelstraClear) to focus on what they do: sales onnet. ULL is a distraction at best - certainly a visible distraction - and will only continue to muddy the waters.

What I'd like to know is, how are we going to grow this country and get MORE PEOPLE HERE? 4m people on which 1 uber, 2 major and umpteen minor carriers rely on. I think we're missing the bigger picture here.

UPDATE: David Cunliffe on Campbell saying Telecom forced it.  

How to start a blog, and your thoughts on the world?

Mauricio kindly helped me set up a few weeks ago, but I've been working on what to say. And something that struck me while working in telecommunications is the unintended consequence of assumption.

Have you ever wondered about why some things are the way they are? why some parameter is set the way it is? how a project got named? how an assumption was created and it became the norm?

As I got older and started working in these programs, eventually driving some of them, the mysticism evaporated and became even more profound: a lot of the time, it's a bunch of people in a room who are making guesses and living with the results.

In 2002 I attended a course run by Landmark Education (http://www.landmarkeducation.com) in London, which changed the way I viewed the world and the people in it. For the better? well, no. But certainly with a lot less mysticism and more reality. And that the same theme, pattern or event would recur time and again.

In my graduate year at Victoria University (1993) and under a workload that was very heavy, I chose to read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. For those who haven't read it - please do - there is a sequence where the most powerful computer in the world is built to calculate the meaning of life, and after many years the answer it comes back with is "42".

That number stuck with me, and I have struck it time and again in my life and career.

I have only just recently started to focus on Voice over IP (VOIP) as part of my new job, and after spending time with a fascinating techie, the number 42 came up. Most people don't think of the process that goes into a telephone call, or what is required at the technical - or human - level to acheive a normal call. A delay of about 40-50 milliseconds (40-50ms) is not discernible to you during a call, and all sounds fine. When that delay increases towards 100ms you start to notice the call is 'poor quality', sounding choppy gargly and generally not clear.

An acceptable standard is about 40-50ms. that's MILLISECONDS from you to the other person wherever they are in the world - and that's pretty amazing stuff.

Why 40-50ms?

I was told that it was a number observed many many years ago when engineers were figuring out (in the states) how to carry more calls down existing telephone technology. Various numbers were observed, but the teams settled on 50ms (which is close to 42). That was a nice round number that seemed to fit.

20 years later, the IT community and world at large is living with the impact of that decision, made all those years ago.

If you've taken DSL broadband at home and want to run applications such as SKYPE, on the premise of making cheap or free calls, keep in the back of your mind that for a great sounding call you need latency of no more than about 50ms from you to the person you're calling. Ask your DSL provider what their latency is, and whether it's guarenteed.

Bet you're surprised with the answer!

- Antonios Karantze
  April 2006