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Convenience, comfort, cost and carbon: what’s the best way to travel, save money and cut emissions?

<p>As New Zealanders plan their summer holiday trips, it’s worth considering different travel options and their respective cost, both to the budget and the environment.</p> <p>I’ve <a href="https://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/fms/Research/Transport_article_Conversation_3.pdf">compared several travel modes (with all assumptions made found here)</a> — a small diesel car, electric car, bus, train or plane — for a door-to-door 300km return journey. The process has identified limitations for each mode, which may help policymakers better understand the challenges involved in developing a low-carbon transport system.</p> <p>New Zealand’s annual transport emissions have <a href="https://www.mfe.govt.nz/sites/default/files/media/Climate%20Change/new-zealands-greenhouse-gas-inventory-1990-2018-vol-1.pdf">nearly doubled</a> since 1990 and account for more than a fifth of total greenhouse gas emissions.</p> <p>Emissions from cars, utes and vans have continued to increase even though the <a href="https://www.motu.nz/our-research/environment-and-resources/emission-mitigation/shaping-new-zealands-low-emissions-future/a-timeline-of-the-nz-emissions-trading-scheme/">NZ Emissions Trading Scheme</a> has been in place for 14 years and has added a “carbon levy” of around 10-15 cents per litre to petrol and diesel.</p> <p>The Climate Change Commission has <a href="https://www.climatecommission.govt.nz/our-work/advice-to-government-topic/inaia-tonu-nei-a-low-emissions-future-for-aotearoa/">recommended</a> the government should:</p> <ul> <li> <p>reduce the reliance on cars (or light vehicles) and support people to walk, cycle and use public transport</p> </li> <li> <p>rapidly adopt electric vehicles</p> </li> <li> <p>and enable local government to play an important role in changing how people travel.</p> </li> </ul> <p>But is it realistic to expect governments to change how people travel? Providing information is perhaps the key.</p> <h2>Transport comparisons</h2> <p>A person’s choice of transport mode is based on a mixture of cost, comfort and convenience as well as speed and safety. But most New Zealanders choose their car out of habit rather than from any analytical reasoning.</p> <p>Carbon dioxide emissions are rarely a factor in their choice. Although more people now agree that climate change is a major issue, few have been willing or able to take steps to significantly reduce their transport-related carbon footprint.</p> <p>This analysis is based on my personal experiences travelling between my house on the outskirts of the city of Palmerston North to attend a meeting in the centre of Wellington. It relates to any other similar journey with a choice of transport modes, although the details will vary depending on the specific circumstances.</p> <p>I compared a 1500cc diesel car I owned for ten years with an electric car which has a 220km range and is mainly charged at home, using rooftop solar. The airport is 8km away from the house, the railway station 7km and the bus station 5km. I included “first and last mile” options when comparing total journey time, cost, carbon emissions, comfort and convenience.</p> <p><iframe id="ph0I4" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/ph0I4/8/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none;" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <h2>Things to consider before a trip</h2> <p>Travelling by car for one person is relatively costly but has good door-to-door convenience and can be quicker than the bus, train or plane, except during times of traffic congestion. Comfort is reasonable but the driver cannot read, work or relax as they can on a train.</p> <p>Car drivers usually consider the cost of fuel when planning a journey, but few consider the costs of depreciation, tyre wear, repairs and maintenance as included here. Should more than one person travel in the car, the costs and carbon emissions will be lower per passenger.</p> <p><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437335/original/file-20211213-17-446b2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="Woman taking picture from small plane" /> <span class="caption">A short plane journey, if nearly full, can have lower emissions per passenger than one person going by road in a diesel car.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Peter Gudella</span></span></p> <p>Taking a short-haul flight over this distance is relatively costly and the journey is no quicker since there is considerable inconvenience getting to and from the airports. The carbon dioxide emissions per passenger can be lower than for a diesel car (with just the driver), assuming the plane has around 80% occupancy.</p> <p>For one person, taking a bus or train can be significantly cheaper than taking a car and also offers lower emissions. However, the longer overall journey time and the hassles getting to and from the stations are deterrents. Infrequent bus and train services, often at inconvenient times, can also be disincentives to choosing these modes.</p> <h2>Going electric</h2> <p><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437334/original/file-20211213-25-4k5xtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" alt="Car park reserved for electric cars to recharge" /> <span class="caption">Electric cars offer convenience and low emissions.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Ed Goodacre</span></span></p> <p>The electric car has low carbon emissions, especially if charged from a domestic solar system. Coupled with reasonable comfort and convenience and the lowest journey cost per person when carrying two or more passengers, this supports the government’s policy to encourage the deployment of EVs.</p> <p>Travelling by train is perhaps the best option overall for one person making this journey. The total cost is less than half that of taking a car. Emissions are around a third of the diesel car. Comfort is good, with the opportunity to work or relax.</p> <p>Making the whole journey more convenient will help encourage more people to travel by train and help reduce transport emissions. But this will require national and local governments to:</p> <ul> <li> <p>encourage Kiwirail to provide more frequent services</p> </li> <li> <p>electrify all lines</p> </li> <li> <p>provide cheap and efficient “first-and-last-mile” services to railway stations</p> </li> <li> <p>undertake a major education campaign to illustrate the full cost, carbon emissions and convenience benefits resulting from leaving the car at home.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165526/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> </li> </ul> <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ralph-sims-204224">Ralph Sims</a>, Emeritus Professor, Energy and Climate Mitigation, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/massey-university-806">Massey University</a></em></span></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/convenience-comfort-cost-and-carbon-whats-the-best-way-to-travel-save-money-and-cut-emissions-165526">original article</a>.</p> <p><em>Image: <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Matej Kastelic</span></span></em></p>

Travel Trouble

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Convenient but susceptible to fraud: Why it makes sense to regulate charitable crowdfunding

<p>Within 24 hours of <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-southern-us-is-prone-to-december-tornadoes-173643" target="_blank">devastating tornadoes striking six states</a> in December 2021, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear launched the <a rel="noopener" href="https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/WKYRelief" target="_blank">Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund</a>. That the leader of the state this disaster hit hardest would immediately tap into <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/crowdfunding-nonprofits" target="_blank">crowdfunded charity</a> – raising money from the public directly – to complement relief dollars from official sources should come as no surprise.</p> <p>Crowdfunded donations have become a key source of disaster assistance – and often raise significant sums. In 2017, for example, football star J.J. Watt quickly raised more than $40 million help people affected by <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.houstontexans.com/news/j-j-watt-foundation-announces-hurricane-harvey-recap-and-2018-19-plans" target="_blank">Hurricane Harvey</a>. Following a series of Australian wildfires, entertainer Celeste Barber made a public appeal that eventually raised more than AU$50 million for the <a rel="noopener" href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/200554" target="_blank">New South Wales Rural Fire Service &amp; Brigades Donation Fund</a>. And to date, the CDC Foundation has raised more than $51 million to support its “<a rel="noopener" href="https://give4cdcf.org/?utm_source=CDCF&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;utm_campaign=combat-coronavirus" target="_blank">Crush COVID</a>” campaign.</p> <p>What’s not to like about this new way to raise funds for a good cause? Well, as long as there has been charitable fundraising there has been the <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/how-donors-can-help-make-nonprofits-more-accountable-85927" target="_blank">potential for scams</a>.</p> <p>As a <a rel="noopener" href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=uplx-M8AAAAJ&amp;hl=en&amp;oi=ao" target="_blank">law professor who studies the regulation of charities</a>, as well as a lawyer who has represented numerous charities and donors in legal disputes, I’ve seen that two aspects of charitable crowdfunding make it particularly vulnerable to fraud.</p> <p><strong>Sometimes it turns out to be crowd-frauding</strong></p> <p>In late 2017, a New Jersey couple posted an inspiring story on GoFundMe. A homeless veteran, they said, had come to the wife’s rescue after she ran out of gas on a highway exit ramp. Their “<a rel="noopener" href="https://abc7ny.com/homeless-hero-gofundme-money-stolen-from-man-john-bobbitt-gofund-me-go-fund/4690185/" target="_blank">Paying it Forward</a>” campaign raised more than $400,000 to help the veteran.</p> <p>Heartwarming, right? Trouble is, it was a lie. All three of the people involved in this trickery eventually <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.inquirer.com/news/mark-damico-johnny-bobbitt-kate-mcclure-gofundme-guilty-20211122.html" target="_blank">pleaded guilty to federal charges</a> of “<a rel="noopener" href="https://www.dicindiolaw.com/what-constitutes-theft-by-deception/" target="_blank">theft by deception</a>.”</p> <p>Fraudulent crowdfunding can also prey on political sentiments rather than just exploiting sympathy.</p> <p>In 2020, <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/leaders-we-build-wall-online-fundraising-campaign-charged-defrauding-hundreds-thousands" target="_blank">federal prosecutors charged</a> former senior Trump adviser Steve Bannon and three others with defrauding thousands of donors to a crowdfunding campaign for <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/why-steve-bannon-faces-fraud-charges-4-questions-answered-144834" target="_blank">building portions of a wall</a> along the U.S. border with Mexico. Bannon and his partners allegedly instead used some of the funds raised to compensate themselves and pay for personal expenses.</p> <p>Although then-President <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/19/trump-pardons-expected-day-before-biden-inauguration.html" target="_blank">Donald J. Trump pardoned Bannon</a> in advance of any trial, the former White House aide still <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2021/05/25/steve-bannon-officially-cleared-of-federal-charges-after-trump-pardon---but-this-state-probe-still-looms/?sh=1a58e95657c4" target="_blank">faces possible state charges</a>.</p> <p><strong>Reasons for vulnerability</strong></p> <p>Making a special website isn’t necessary to raise charitable funds this way. Some 45 million people donated to or created a fundraiser using Facebook from 2015 to 2020, raising over <a rel="noopener" href="https://about.fb.com/news/2019/09/2-billion-for-causes/" target="_blank">$3 billion for charities</a>, according the company.</p> <p>And crowdfunding efforts can help people without <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc506" target="_blank">technically counting as tax-deductible charity</a>. <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.gofundme.com/" target="_blank">GoFundMe</a>, a popular charitable crowdfunding platform, lets people raise funds for both personal needs, such as covering medical expenses, and for specific charities of all kinds.</p> <p>Being fast and cheap to operate makes charitable crowdfunding ideal in some ways, not others. More traditional fundraising campaigns that rely on mailings and phone calls are time-consuming to establish. In contrast, it’s possible to set up a new campaign on GoFundMe that is then visible both nationally and internationally within a few minutes.</p> <p>In the wake of a highly publicized disaster, when many people are <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-select-a-disaster-relief-charity-83928" target="_blank">looking for a quick way to help</a>, everyone – even governors – will want to move fast. Opportunities for fraud are perhaps at their peak.</p> <p>Compounding this problem: Laws governing charitable fundraising do not clearly apply to campaign organizers and crowdfunding platforms. As I detail in an article <a rel="noopener" href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3686612" target="_blank">soon to be published in the Indiana Law Journal</a>, state legislatures wrote those laws decades ago, when charities raised money either directly or using paid solicitors. As a result, those laws do not usually apply to individuals who voluntarily raise money for individuals or charities to which they have no formal ties. Nor do they apply to the recently emerged platforms where people crowdfund for causes.</p> <p><strong>California takes aim</strong></p> <p>So far, there’s no regulation taking shape to address these issues at the federal level.</p> <p>California became the first state to pass legislation specifically targeting charitable crowdfunding when Gov. Gavin Newson signed Assembly Bill No. 488 into law in October 2021. The measure, which will not <a rel="noopener" href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB488" target="_blank">take effect until Jan. 1, 2023</a>, requires both charities raising funds online and platforms hosting campaigns for specific charities to register and file regular reports with the state’s <a rel="noopener" href="https://oag.ca.gov/charities" target="_blank">Registry of Charitable Trusts</a>.</p> <p>The new law will also require these charities and platforms to make certain public disclosures and receipts, as needed. It will also require platforms to promptly distribute donations to the designated charities and obtain a charity’s written consent before soliciting funds for its benefit – with some exceptions.</p> <p>In my view, California’s new law is a good first effort.</p> <p>It places the burden of compliance on the charities themselves and the handful of online platforms engaged in this work, not on the numerous individuals who start campaigns. But it remains to be seen whether the registration, reporting, disclosure and other requirements will create enough transparency and accountability to sufficiently deter fraud without over burdening legitimate charities and platforms.</p> <p>I appreciate the difficult task legislators face in striking a balance that avoids both over- and underregulation. Lawmakers do not want to overregulate charitable crowdfunding to the point that generous individuals and legitimate charities shy away from launching campaigns because of the legal burdens of doing so.</p> <p>That is, all new laws and regulations, in addition to discouraging crowdfunding fraud, ought to encourage generosity.</p> <p>At the same time, lawmakers want to regulate charitable crowdfunding enough to ensure that all or almost all funds raised go the individuals and charities that the donors intend to support. Time will tell whether California and the states that follow its example have struck the right balance.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172029/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lloyd-hitoshi-mayer-1148002" target="_blank">Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer</a>, Professor of Law, <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-notre-dame-990" target="_blank">University of Notre Dame</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/convenient-but-susceptible-to-fraud-why-it-makes-sense-to-regulate-charitable-crowdfunding-172029" target="_blank">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Money & Banking

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What is the place of the performing arts fair in the age of the internet?

<p><em>Review: Platform Papers 62: Performing Arts Markets and their Conundrums, by Justin Macdonnell (Currency Press)</em></p> <p>The performing arts may be a public good that serve to enrich Australia’s cultural imagination, but they are also a product competing for audience share and government, corporate and private support.</p> <p>Established in 1994, the <a href="https://apam.org.au/">Australian Performing Arts Market (APAM)</a> has aimed to facilitate one aspect of this “arts market” by hosting biennial trade fairs that connect national and international producers and programming venues.</p> <p>From 2020, APAM will move from hosting these biennial conferences to “<a href="https://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/international/australian-performing-arts-market-apam/">gatherings</a>”, dividing its promotional activity across existing arts events such as Darwin Festival and Melbourne’s AsiaTOPA.</p> <p>Author Justin Macdonnell brings a commanding insider’s perspective to the topic. He has worked in and around touring arts companies for several decades, and is currently executive director of arts industry advocacy organisation <a href="http://www.anzarts-institute.com/index.htm">Anzarts</a>.</p> <p>Noting APAM’s new model might lessen the intensity and impact of its work – especially given that overseas producers are unlikely to make multiple excursions to Australia a year – Macdonell asks whether the arts fair has outlived its usefulness.</p> <p>This might seem at best an issue of marginal concern to people who work outside the performing arts industry. However, Macdonell argues the current system has led not so much to “good art” but “convenient art” being promoted to Australian audiences.</p> <p>Given the significant role that public funding and public bodies such as the <a href="https://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/">Australia Council</a> play in supporting the performing arts and arts venues, his question deserves wider attention.</p> <p>Frustratingly (but, no doubt, diplomatically), Macdonnell does not offer concrete examples of “convenient art”. He nevertheless argues that the “dominating presence of state and federal agencies” in the Australian arts market has led to the stifling of independent arts managers and small-scale producers, and also of innovative and risky projects.</p> <p>It is time we asked, he suggests, whether an arts fair is necessary, let alone desirable, in today’s digitally empowered, globalised marketplace.</p> <p><strong>An online world</strong></p> <p>Macdonnell notes trade fairs are at odds with calls to curb air travel due to its <a href="https://theconversation.com/sustainable-shopping-is-it-possible-to-fly-sustainably-88636">environmental impact</a>.</p> <p>He also wonders if touring itself is so desirable or necessary in the age of YouTube and teleconferencing:</p> <p><em>This is not to say that these means have replaced seeing a work or meeting the artist in person. In all probability, they never will. But they have revolutionalised access to knowledge of the work and are creating and maintaining contact about it.</em></p> <p>In this digitally enabled market, companies and individual artists can also now bypass the traditional arts brokers and gatekeepers such as arts agencies, or indeed APAM itself, and promote themselves directly to producers.</p> <p>APAM, he further observes, has “never has been the practitioner’s market”, rather it has “come to be about just one part of the industry (non-profit)”. Presenters and producers might attend to seek out new and innovative work, but they are not given a comprehensive overview of what might actually be available.</p> <p><strong>Left unsaid</strong></p> <p>Although Macdonnell does not explore this, such institutionalised impediments to free choice may help explain the growing trend towards <a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2005.06.002">homogenisation</a> in major arts programming across the developed world.</p> <p>Artistic directors of major performing arts festivals, in particular, can appear impregnable to pitches from outside established promotional routes.</p> <p>But if, as Macdonnell notes, “anyone, anywhere in the world at any time can now see the newest show on YouTube”, why would we seek to rely on the filter of agents or industry bodies to select what we will see or hear?</p> <p>The potential for market distortion under the current system can be made worse by horsetrading behind the scenes. The most powerful artist agencies routinely leverage access to their most profitable performers or productions to make hiring companies and venues take on other acts they represent, with little regard for local circumstances.</p> <p>To my mind, the major buyers in the arts marketplace – artistic directors, festivals and venues – should be specifically resourced and encouraged to look for acts outside these existing industry networks.</p> <p>Wesley Enoch’s provocative 2014 Platform Paper, <a href="https://currencyhouse.org.au/node/42">Take Me To Your Leader</a>, however, suggested we lack this kind of cultural leadership across the Australian performing arts:</p> <p><em>With the growth of government-led cultural leadership we have seen the voices of the mob, the dissenters and the opposition slowly becoming tamed and included in a sort of official culture […] Government champions the arts more these days than artists do.</em></p> <p>Enoch asked whether those who run subsidised organisations might be brave enough to bite the hand that feeds them.</p> <p>Macdonnell refrains from concluding his platform paper with similarly provocative statements.</p> <p>But he has done a useful service to both the arts industry and the wider Australian public by asking us to consider whether there might be better ways for our major performing arts institutions to seek out, and promote, their wares.</p> <p><em>Written by Peter Tregear. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-place-of-the-performing-arts-fair-in-the-age-of-the-internet-130542">The Conversation.</a></em></p>

Art

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The expensive but convenient alternative to the NBN

<p><em><strong>Rod Tucker is a Laureate Emeritus Professor at the University of Melbourne, in the University of Melbourne’s Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.</strong></em></p> <p>Will Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN) face damaging competition from the upcoming 5G network? NBN Co CEO Bill Morrow <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/slug-mobile-internet-connections-or-pay-us-more-nbn-chief-bill-morrow-warns-20171022-gz5p87.html" target="_blank">thinks so</a></strong></span>.</p> <p>This week, he even floated the idea of a levy on mobile broadband services, although Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/malcolm-turnbull-says-the-nbn-was-a-mistake-and-may-never-make-money-20171022-gz63yo.html" target="_blank">quickly rejected</a></strong></span> the idea.</p> <p>NBN Co is clearly going to have to compete with mobile broadband on an equal footing.</p> <p>This latest episode in the <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/nbn-127" target="_blank">NBN saga</a></strong></span> raises the question of exactly what 5G will offer broadband customers, and how it will sit alongside the fixed NBN network.</p> <p>To understand how 5G could compare with the NBN, let’s examine the key differences and similarities between mobile networks and fixed-line broadband.</p> <p><strong>What is 5G?</strong></p> <p>5G stands for “<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-5g-38489" target="_blank">5th generation mobile</a></strong></span>”. It builds upon today’s 4G mobile network technology, but promises to offer higher peak connection speeds and lower latency, or time delays.</p> <p>5G’s higher connection speeds will be possible thanks to improved radio technologies, increased allocations of radio spectrum, and by using many more antenna sites or base stations than today’s networks. Each antenna will serve a smaller area, or cell.</p> <p>The technical details of 5G are currently under negotiation in international standards bodies. 5G networks should be available in Australia by 2020, although regulatory changes <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.zdnet.com/article/australia-facing-urgency-on-5g-spectrum-bands-amta/" target="_blank">are still needed</a></strong></span>.</p> <p><strong>Connections on 5G</strong></p> <p>In a mobile network, the user’s device (typically a smart phone) communicates with a nearby wireless base station via a radio link. All users connected to that base station share its available data capacity.</p> <p>Australia’s mobile network typically provides <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://opensignal.com/reports/2017/02/global-state-of-the-mobile-network" target="_blank">download speeds</a></strong></span> of around 20 Mb/s. But the actual speed of connection for an individual decreases as the number of users increases. This effect is known as contention.</p> <p>Anyone who has tried to upload a photo to Facebook from the Melbourne Cricket Ground will have experienced this.</p> <p>The maximum download speed of 5G networks could be more than 1 Gb/s. But in practice, it will <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-5g-38489" target="_blank">likely provide</a></strong></span> download speeds around 100 Mb/s or higher.</p> <p>Because of contention and the high cost of the infrastructure, mobile network operators also impose significant data download limits for 4G. It is not yet clear what level of data caps will apply in 5G networks.</p> <p><strong>Connections on the NBN</strong></p> <p>In a fixed-line network like the NBN, the user typically connects to the local telephone exchange via optical fibre. Directly, in the case of fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP), or by copper wiring and then fibre, in fibre-to-the-node (FTTN).</p> <p>An important difference between the NBN and a mobile network is that on the NBN, there is virtually no contention on the data path between the user and the telephone exchange. In other words, the user’s experience is almost independent of how many other users are online.</p> <p>But, as highlighted in the recent public debate around the NBN, some users <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/when-it-comes-to-the-nbn-we-keep-having-the-same-conversations-over-and-over-85078" target="_blank">have complained</a></strong></span> that NBN speeds decrease at peak usage times.</p> <p>Importantly, this is not a fundamental issue of the NBN technology. Rather, it is caused by artificial throttling thanks to the NBN Co’s Connectivity Virtual Circuit (CVC) charges, and/or by contention in the retail service provider’s network.</p> <p>Retail service providers like TPG pay CVC charges to NBN Co to gain bandwidth into the NBN. These charges are <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-01/telcos-cry-foul-over-controversial-nbn-charge-for-bandwidth/8762404" target="_blank">currently quite high</a></strong></span>, and this has allegedly encouraged some service providers to skimp on bandwidth, leading to contention.</p> <p>A restructuring of the wholesale model as well as providing adequate bandwidth in NBN Co’s transit network <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.telecomtimes.com.au/single-post/2017/09/06/How-to-fix-the-NBN-pricing-model-Rod-Tucker-John-de-Ridder" target="_blank">could easily eliminate</a></strong></span> artificial throttling.</p> <p>The amount of data allowed by retailers per month is also generally much higher on the NBN than in mobile networks. It is often unlimited.</p> <p>This will always be a key difference between the NBN and 5G.</p> <p><strong>Don’t forget, 5G needs backhaul</strong></p> <p>In wireless networks, the connection between the base stations and internet is known as backhaul.</p> <p>Today’s 4G networks often use microwave links for backhaul, but in 5G networks where the quantity of data to be transferred will be higher, the backhaul will necessarily be optical fibre.</p> <p>In the US and elsewhere, a number of broadband service providers <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.fiercetelecom.com/telecom/report-2b-to-be-spent-5g-backhaul-by-2022-ng-pon2-to-dominate" target="_blank">are planning</a></strong></span> to build 5G backhaul networks using passive optical network (PON) technology. This is the type used in the NBN’s FTTP sections.</p> <p>In fact, this could be a new revenue opportunity for NBN Co. It could encourage the company to move back to FTTP in certain high-population density areas where large numbers of small-cell 5G base stations are required.</p> <p><strong>So, will 5G Compete with the NBN?</strong></p> <p>There is a great deal of excitement about the opportunities 5G will provide. But its full capacity will only be achieved through very large investments in infrastructure.</p> <p>Like today’s 4G network, large data downloads for video streaming and other bandwidth-hungry applications will likely be more expensive using 5G than using the NBN.</p> <p>In addition, future upgrades to the FTTP sections of the NBN <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.nbnco.com.au/blog/industry/gpon-vs-ng-pon2.html" target="_blank">will accommodate</a></strong></span> download speeds as high as 10 Gb/s, which will not be achievable with 5G.</p> <p>Unfortunately, those customers served by FTTN will not enjoy these higher speeds because of the limitations of the copper connections between the node and the premises.</p> <p>5G will provide convenient broadband access for some internet users. But as the demand for ultra-high-definition video streaming and new applications such as virtual reality grow, the NBN will remain the network of choice for most customers, especially those with FTTP services.</p> <p>What are your thoughts?</p> <p><em>Written by Rob Tucker. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/5g-will-be-a-convenient-but-expensive-alternative-to-the-nbn-86216" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Conversation.</span></strong></a> <img width="1" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86216/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" alt="The Conversation"/></em></p>

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