TelecomTV TelecomTV
  • News
  • Videos
  • Channels
  • Events
  • Directory
  • Smart Studio
  • Surveys
  • Debates
  • Perspectives
  • DSP Leaders World Forum
  • DSP Leaders
  • Great Telco Debate
    • |
    • Follow
    • |
    • Subscribe
  • |
  • More
  • Webcasts
  • Surveys
  • Debates
  • Perspectives
  • Great Telco Debate
  • |
  • Follow TelecomTV
  • |
    • Subscribe
    • |
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Help
  • Contact
  • Follow TelecomTV
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Help
  • Contact
  • Sign In Register Subscribe
    • Subscribe
    • Sign In
    • Register
  • Search

Business Models

Business Models

Australia puts technology guy Malcolm Turnbull in charge

Ian Scales
By Ian Scales

Sep 15, 2015

via Flickr © CeBIT Australia (CC BY 2.0)

via Flickr © CeBIT Australia (CC BY 2.0)

Australia may have just elected the world’s first real comms/IT premier in its new Liberal Party prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull. In a (as far as we know) bloodless coup Turnbull was voted into the top spot just hours after resigning as communications minister.

In other parliamentary democracies it’s more usual for a new leader to vacate a finance, foreign or internal affairs portfolio to supplant the leader, but in Australia communications issues have been in the spotlight for several years as the country has adopted an ambitious NBN (national broadband network) scheme which has turned out to be a political hot potato of the first order.

Australia’s NBN (we hope to be writing more on this next month) envisaged structural separation with a lower wholesale  infrastructure layer and a separately functioning set of service providers, as the best way to bring broadband to people scattered over a huge landmass at reasonable cost.

Fiery political debates over technology approaches and ownership structures ensued and continue as the build-out progressed.

Turnbull’s deft hand had seen him steer the NBN through choppy waters during his time at the communications ministry. Before that, his colourful and diverse career (no identikit politician he) has included time in the ISP business and, as a lawyer, representing UK ‘Spycatcher’, Peter Wright, back in the 1980s when his ‘Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer, was to be published in Australia and caused the UK government to attempt to halt the book to stop embarrassing spying beans being spilt. Thanks to Turnbull HM govt. lost that action, but Turnbull went on into politics to rise to the very top.

Yesterday, as if to prove his technological chops, Turnbull actually mouthed a phrase in his victory speech which included the words “agile, innovative and creative” and could therefore have graced any communication conference address.

According to Ovum’s Al Blake, Australian Government Technology Principal Analyst, “When the incoming liberal government inherited the ‘Labor NBN’, after months of trashing it as a ‘massive white elephant’, it was a political imperative to promote a different approach – resulting the mixed-mode delivery model pushed for the last two years against the advice of many in the ICT industry.”

However, Blake thinks it’s uncertain just how strongly Turnbull supported his colleagues’ approach. Now Australia might be about to find out.

Says Blake: “Having someone with an understanding of technology at the highest position in government cannot be underestimated.”

Related Topics
  • Access Evolution,
  • Analysis & Opinion,
  • Asia-Pacific,
  • Broadband,
  • Business Models,
  • News,
  • Policy & Regulation,
  • Telco & CSP

More Like This

Access Evolution

Loon falls back to earth with a bump

Jan 22, 2021

Policy & Regulation

It's Google and Facebook v. The Lucky Country

Jan 22, 2021

Digital Platforms & Services

All data centres are not the same - proximity matters

Jan 21, 2021

4G LTE

DT and Telefonica/O2 plan active site sharing in Germany

Jan 20, 2021

Digital Platforms & Services

The UK government and its services need a ‘digital reboot’, says report

Jan 18, 2021

Email Newsletters

Stay up to date with the latest industry developments: sign up to receive TelecomTV's top news and videos plus exclusive subscriber-only content direct to your inbox – including our daily news briefing and weekly wrap.

Subscribe

Top Picks

Highlights of our content from across TelecomTV today

1:4:29

Great Telco Debate: Live Debate – Day 2 (On-demand)

1:18:20

Great Telco Debate: Live Debate – Day 3 (On-demand)

43:08

Developing an ecosystem for vRAN

2:23

The TelecomTV Snapshot: The Great Telco Debate 2020 - CSP Highlights

  • TelecomTV
  • Decisive Media

TelecomTV is produced by the team at Decisive Media

Menu
  • News
  • Videos
  • Channels
  • Directory
  • Smart Studio
 
  • Surveys
  • Debates
  • Perspectives
  • Events
  • About Us
Our Brands
  • TelecomTV Tracker
  • TelecomTV Perspectives
  • DSP Leaders
  • DSP Leaders World Forum
  • The Great Telco Debate
Get In Touch
[email protected]
+44 (0) 207 448 1070

Request a Media Pack

Follow
  • © Decisive Media Limited 2021. All rights reserved. All brands and products are the trademarks of their respective holder(s).
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Legal Notices