About the Project

The primary purpose for the Hybrid SmartStreet Project is to help Australians understand how a National Broadband Network (NBN) might impact their everyday life.

This Project will aim to:

Achieve, discover and communicate a simplified approach to understanding what the NBN means in terms of technology, infrastructure and service delivery and how this impacts Australian citizens;
Understand and communicate, beyond internet technology jargon, how a high-speed internet connection in the home can make life better;
Assist Australians with gaining an informed opinion about the NBN.

Click on a question to link to the answers below:

Hybrid SmartStreet: What’s in the name?
What is the Hybrid SmartStreet Project going to do?
What do we hope to learn from the Hybrid SmartStreet Project?
What is a TiVo Media Device?
What is CASPA?
Why did you choose Tasmania for the Project?
What is the Government’s NBN Initiative?

Hybrid SmartStreet: What’s in the name?

The word “Hybrid” originates from a combination of broadcast and broadband.

BROADCAST. Australians have access to digital television under the Freeview banner. Digital television, unlike analogue TV, provides a better picture and sound result as well as 16x9 viewing experience. The broadcast experience of Hybrid SmartStreet homes will be the Freeview channels.

BROADBAND. Beyond the Freeview broadcast experience for television – often people want more entertainment. The old-fashioned way of getting more entertainment on the TV is to visit the video store. Hybrid SmartStreet homes will be able to access new release movies, a catalogue of library movies, TV programs and music videos, concerts and artist interviews through the internet – for viewing on their television.

TiVo MEDIA DEVICE. The device that will be used in the Project is the TiVo media device. With a TiVo media device, Hybrid SmartStreet homes will have access to all of the digital TV channels as well as broadband movies, TV and music – delivered to their television.

SMARTSTREET. The term SmartStreet is used to demonstrate the benefits of high speed internet at a micro level. When we refer to major initiatives such as the NBN – we tend to comment at a broad/ high level and this does not allow individuals households to have a clear understanding of how it affects their lives, their home. SmartStreet is about empowering the individual on a home-by-home basis, on a street-by-street basis, to learn and spread the message on a personal level so that the message will grow into a national understanding.

What is the Hybrid SmartStreet Project going to do?

In Tasmania there are a number of homes that are already connected to fibre instead of copper for their internet service. These homes have their internet service delivered through TasTel. We will be approaching these customers to ask them to participate in the Hybrid SmartStreet Project.

For those homes that do agree to participate, during their involvement in the 12 month trial, we intend to:

Simulate the NBN in terms of internet speed and capacity over the period of the trial;
Pay their monthly internet service fee;
Provide them with a TiVo media device which will provide them access to digital TV and well as broadband entertainment and services;
Introduce new services which will exploit high speed internet;
Introduce new products that will exploit high speed internet;
Monitor how they use broadband services in conjunction with other internet-based services in the home as well as their viewing behaviour in relation to broadcast television;
Compare this behaviour to other TiVo users across Australia to learn about how internet speed and capacity impacts entertainment viewing behaviour and consumption.

What do we hope to learn from the Hybrid SmartStreet
Project?

There are 3 primary areas of research we are undertaking, seeking answers to several key questions as follows:

Understanding the barriers to uptake and usage of high speed broadband.
1. Is it a want versus need and how what role does price pay?
2. How does speed factor into demand? Will an exponentially faster speed persuade more Australians to adopt the internet in their home?
3. What role does capacity of download and uploads play in adoption and use of the internet? If we remove the capacity barriers – does that have a direct correlation with increased use?
4. What is the correlation between broadcast TV consumption and broadband entertainment consumption in the home?
Understanding Big Screen behaviour.

Traditionally broadband content and services were relegated to the study and on the PC. Recently, mobile content and services were introduced through internet-enabled (WAP) phones. With high speed broadband – the television can play an integral role in delivering alternative content on-demand (versus in a linear fashion like with pay TV).

How might viewing behaviour change when entertainment can be delivered on-demand, at TV quality for picture and sound – directly to the television?

The internet delivers mail, payment gateways, research and general knowledge in addition to entertainment online. However, not every household has a computer or connection to the internet – but nearly every household has a television.

When the NBN is ubiquitous – how might services be translated to the television, for remote control interaction (versus the computer keyboard)?
What new services can be created for the television versus merely translating existing internet services from a PC to a TV interface?

The role of the advertiser.

Today, advertising subsidises the cost to consumers for much of the entertainment Australians enjoy: free-to-air television (100% subsidised by advertisers), newspapers (partly subsidised through print advertisements), magazines (partly subsidised through magazine ads), radio (100% subsidised by advertisers). The advertiser plays an integral role in delivering entertainment to the masses. With the onset of Video On-Demand and the proliferation of content available on the web, the role of the advertiser is a critical one.

What role can the advertiser play in subsidising broadband entertainment to Australians?
If people can receive additional entertainment to their TV legally and without having to pay for it - what impact can this have on download piracy?
Can the advertiser play a role in subsidising services (as well as content) – what is the model and how well is it received by consumers?

What is a TiVo Media Device?

A TiVo media device is a device that connects to your television. It combines two services in one box: access to digital broadcast television and access to broadband content and services.

The device converts an analogue TV signal to a digital one and allows people to view all the free-to-air channels including the new digital channels (eg. One Sport, Go! and 7TWO).

The TiVo product is well known around the world for its ability to control television viewing. Through the TiVo device one can:

pause and rewind live television;
auto record every episode in a season;
auto record keywords like favourite actors, directors or terms;
apply parental controls for safer child viewing as well as auto record programs for children that are kept separate from the parent’s viewing choices
see what is on now as well as coming up using a 7 day on screen guide, and record programs directly from the guide.

What is CASPA™?

The TiVo experience in Australia has been enhanced to provide more than the DVR functionality and access to digital free-to-air channels (Freeview).

The enhancement is Hybrid TV’s development of a content and services platform called CASPA™. CASPA is an on-demand entertainment service which will over time include services – all delivered through the television.

When a consumer wishes to view something other than what is on TV – they can access CASPA through their TiVo device and download content from an ever-growing library of movies, TV and music to view on-demand.

This delivery is different to television where we watch one show after another in a linear fashion according to a specific timeframe and to the program schedule of a TV network.

On-demand allows us to pick and choose what we want to watch, download it and watch it on our TV when we choose to watch it (not according to someone else’s program schedule)..

Through the broadband connection to their TiVo device, users access CASPA. CASPA provides:

More than 500 hours of movies: both new releases and movie favourites
More than 500 episodes of TV content across Comedy, Drama, Kids & Documentaries
Plus music videos, music concerts and music artist interviews

Why did we choose Tasmania for the Project?

There were a number of reasons for choosing Tasmania to launch the Hybrid SmartStreet Project:

The Premier of Tasmania has recognised high speed broadband as the most significant infrastructure of the 21st century.
The Tasmanian Government has a history of pursuing innovation and has a clear understanding of how the NBN will allow new applications to flourish that will change the way we live and interact with each other.
The Tasmanian Government is leading the way in demonstrating its capacity to conceive and act on ways to take advantage of digital technology for a better way of life, a better society and a stronger economy.
World experts are recognising Tasmania’s capacity to plan a way towards a digital future.
Premier Bartlett has set a goal of Tasmania becoming the most connected place on the planet by 2014.
The Tasmanian Government and Aurora have previously laid fibre-to-the-premises under their TasCOLT network. It is this network that will be used in the trial while the NBN infrastructure gets rolled out from 2010.
The Federal Government has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Tasmanian Government to undertake the first rollout of the NBN in Tasmania.
The goal is to construct a fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) network to deliver speeds of 100 megabits per second, to 200,000 Tasmanian households and businesses.
The remainder of Tasmanian premises will be served by next-generation wireless or satellite services, offering speeds of 12 megabits per second or more.

Read the Minister's Press Release with the Tasmanian Government here.

What is the Government’s NBN Initiative?

Copied below is the press announcement on the NBN from the Federal Government’s website.

CANBERRA, 7 APRIL 2009, PRESS OFFICE (02) 6277 7744

Joint media release

PRIME MINISTER, TREASURER, MINISTER FOR FINANCE, MINISTER FOR BROADBAND

New National Broadband Network

The Rudd Government today announced the establishment of a new company to build and operate a new super fast National Broadband Network.

This new super fast National Broadband Network, built in partnership with private sector, will be the single largest nation building infrastructure project in Australian history.

This new National Broadband Network will:

Connect 90 percent of all Australian homes, schools and workplaces with broadband services with speeds up to 100 megabits per second100 times faster than those currently used by many households and businesses
Connect all other premises in Australia with next generation wireless and satellite technologies that will deliver broadband speeds of 12 megabits per second >
Directly support up to 25,000 local jobs every year, on average, over the 8 year life of the project.

Under the Rudd Government's new national broadband network every house, school and business in Australia will get access to affordable fast broadband.

OWNERSHIP AND FINANCING

The Rudd Government's National Broadband Network will be built and operated by a new company specifically established by the Australian Government to carry out this project.

The Government will be the majority shareholder of this company, but significant private sector investment in the company is anticipated.

The Government will make an initial investment in this company but intends to sell down its interest in the company within 5 years after the network is built and fully operational, consistent with market conditions, and national and identity security considerations.

This company jointly owned by the Government and the private sector will invest up to $43 billion over 8 years to build the national broadband network.

The Government's investment in the company will be funded through the Building Australia Fund and the issuance of Aussie Infrastructure Bonds (AIBs), which will provide an opportunity for households and institutions to invest in the national broadband network.

The new investment is also the biggest reform in telecommunications in two decades because it delivers separation between the infrastructure provider and retail service providers. This means better and fairer infrastructure access for service providers, greater retail competition, and better services for families and businesses.

This announcement follows the Government's decision to terminate the NBN Request for Proposals (RFP) process on the basis of advice from the independent Panel of Experts that none of the national proposals offered value for money. The Panel noted the rapid deterioration of the global economy had a significant impact on the process.

This historic nation-building investment will help transform the Australian economy and create the jobs and businesses of the 21st century.

SPECIFICATIONS

The new superfast network will:

connect homes, schools and workplaces with optical fibre (fibre to the premises or 'FTTP'), providing broadband services to Australians in urban and regional towns with speeds of 100 megabits per second - 100 times faster than those currently used by most people extending to towns with a population of around 1,000 or more people
use next generation wireless and satellite technologies that will be able to deliver 12 megabits per second or more to people living in more remote parts of rural Australia
provide fibre optic transmission links connecting cities, major regional centres and rural towns
be Australia's first national wholesale-only, open access broadband network
be built and operated on a commercial basis by a company established at arm's length from Government and involve private sector investment
be expected to be rolled-out, simultaneously, in metropolitan, regional, and rural areas.

Every person and business in Australia, no-matter where they are located, will have access to affordable, fast broadband at their fingertips.

High speed broadband is increasingly essential to the way Australians communicate, and do business. It will help drive Australia's productivity, improve education and health service delivery and connect our big cities and regional centres.

The Government will invest in this major nation-building infrastructure to stimulate jobs in the short-term and pay a dividend to the Australian people through enhanced productivity and innovation in the long-term.

This is a major nation-building project that will support 25,000 jobs every year, on average, over the life of the project. At its peak, it will support 37,000 jobs. Given the productivity gains associated with this investment, the full benefits will continue to flow for decades beyond the completion of the project.

The Government's announcement today has been informed by expert advice. The Panel of Experts has encouraged the Government to invest in optical fibre technology, supplemented by next-generation wireless and satellite technologies. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission have also endorsed the use of FTTP as a superior technology to Fibre to the Node.

The preliminary estimate is that the enhanced NBN network will cost up to $43 billion, which has been developed taking into account advice from specialist technical advisers.

The Government's objective is to achieve 90 per cent coverage of the FTTP network, and remaining coverage to be delivered through wireless and satellite technologies, within this funding envelope. Initial advice to the Government is that this objective is achievable, but this estimate will be subject to an implementation study.

The Government will seek private investment in the company to draw on private sector capacity and expertise. However, ownership restrictions will be established to protect the Government's objective of a wholesale open-access network.

PLAN OF ACTION

To turn its vision into action the Government will immediately:

Commence an implementation study to determine the operating arrangements, detailed network design, ways to attract private sector investment for roll-out early 2010, and ways to provide procurement opportunities for local businesses
Fast-track negotiations with the Tasmanian Government, as recommended by the Panel of Experts, to build upon its NBN proposal to begin the rollout of a FTTP network and next generation wireless services in Tasmania as early as July an immediate start on a nation-wide investment.
Implement measures to address 'black spots' through the timely rollout of fibre optic transmission links connecting cities, major regional centres and rural towns - delivering improvements to telecommunication services in the short term.
Progress legislative changes that will govern the national broadband network company and facilitate the rollout of fibre networks, including requiring greenfields developments to use FTTP technology from 1 July 2010.
Make an initial investment in the network of $4.7 billion.
Commence a consultative process on necessary changes to the existing telecommunications regulatory regime.

The initiative announced today is a historic nation-building investment focused on Australia's long-term national interest. It will fundamentally transform the competitive dynamics of the telecommunications sector, underpin future productivity growth and our international competitiveness.