ADSL FOR GULMARRAD
** IT'S OFFICIAL. GULMARRAD IS NOW ADSL ENABLED AS AT 22/12/04 (2 DAYS BEFORE SCHEDULE). APPLY FOR ADSL WITH BIGPOND OR YOUR PREFERRED ISP TO TAKE THE ONRAMP TO THE INFORMATION SUPER HIGHWAY.
MANY THANKS TO THOSE IN THE COMMUNITY WHO SUPPORTED THE PUSH FOR BROADBAND IN GULMARRAD, AND TO TELSTRA FOR MAKING IT A REALITY. I WISH EVERYONE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR**
Final Registered Interest Count = 46 as at 13/10/04.
Location
Gulmarrad is Located in Northern New South Wales (Australia), approximately 1 hour South of Ballina, on the Brooms Head Road near Maclean. Gulmarrad has a population of approx 700 people, and is growing fast due to the property boom and its location to the coast. Gulmarrad has a number of subdivisions, with minimum 1 acre "flood free" blocks which has made it the place of choice for those who want to build their dream home.
New Subdivisions in progress in Gulmarrad
Background
I, like a number of other people in Gulmarrad, recently applied to get ADSL internet access for the speed and convenience of not tying up the phone line when on the internet, only to find out that all of Gulmarrad is serviced by a non-ADSL friendly RIM. If you live in the red circle, you are unlikely to get ADSL and will have a maximum 28.8k modem speed, just above the minimum communications legislation requirements.
The Facts
From my research, Gulmarrad is connected to a "RIM" located on the corner of Jamefield Drive and Broomshead Road Near the Gulmarrad Public School (marked with the green star). A RIM is a method Telstra uses to supply voice quality phone lines to a large number of consumers in a semi-remote location.. It is cheap to install compared to true copper pair all the way to the exchange, and new phone lines can be quickly and easily added to the RIM for minimal costs. The downside for consumers is that it does not support ADSL.
Instead of having multiple long runs of dedicated copper wire for each phone from the exchange, there is a RIM that is linked by one run of fibre optic cable that "shares" all the customers lines. Cheap for phones, but no good for ADSL...
For more information about pair gain read the "Pair Gain FAQ" on Whirlpool by clicking here.
What can we do?
The RIM can be upgraded to support ADSL, but only with community backing. I have contacted Telstra and they advise that if at least 30 people register an interest in ADSL, they will do a cost analysis for upgrading the RIM. This is where you come in. If you want ADSL now or in the future, and live anywhere in Gulmarrad or Taloumbi please email me at gulmarrad@hotmail.com with the following details;
Name
Address
The phone line ADSL would be installed on (your existing phone number)
Your daytime contact phone number
Your After Hours contact phone number
Your email address.
Telstra may contact you to check if you have added your name to the register legitimately (to make sure I haven't added names from the phone book for example). This does not mean you have to sign up for ADSL straight way or that you have to sign up with Telstra Bigpond. It just lets Telstra know there is a demand for ADSL in the area. I will only supply your details to Telstra for the purpose of getting the RIM upgraded. I will also email you to keep you updated on progress. Telstra has strict privacy policies in place.
If you have already registered for ADSL and been knocked back or have registered interest on the Bigpond website before, please send me your details anyway. With a combined register, I have a list of true numbers which I can supply to Telstra in one list.
Is this the same issue as Iluka is Facing?
No, Iluka is pushing to get the central phone exchange upgraded to support ADSL. They need 150 interested parties. The Maclean Exchange is already ADSL enabled. People and Businesses in Maclean central are already using ADSL. It is just that the "pipe" that Gulmarrad uses to connect to Maclean cannot currently support ADSL. We need at least 30 interested parties.
Click here to see the Iluka ADSL project website
** UPDATE ** Iluka has been given the go ahead under the HIBIS scheme. Unfortunately, Gulmarrad is not in a Qualifying area for HIBIS support. Click here for an update on Iluka
Why would I want to get ADSL
There are a lot of sites out there selling the virtues of ADSL. The main benefits are;
It's always on. It's not like dialing up with the old modem where you pay a local call each time you log on. Always on, no local call costs.
It uses your existing phone line at the same time as your telephone. No sperate line needed. No engaged signals while you are on the net.
It's super fast compared to 28.8k modem speeds which you currently get.
Its' cheaper and much faster than ISDN, the only supposed "Broadband" offering currently supplied at Gulmarrad.
Here are some ISP links for more detail.
http://www.bigpond.com/internet-plans/broadband/what-is/
http://homesite.service.ozemail.com.au/products/broadband/whybb
http://www.adsl4iluka.net/Benefits%20of%20ADSL.htm
The problem That No One Wants To Acknowledge
Pair gain is an Australian Wide issue. I have heard that Crystal Waters in Yamba and Woombah are in the same situation of no ADSL bacause of RIMS, and there are millions of consumers across Australia affected by RIMS/Pair Gain (most don't even know it yet). Go to the general DSL discussion group here http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-threads.cfm?f=100 and look at all the people who are getting the pair gain run around. A lot of blame is laid on Telstra, but the fact is a lot of these RIMs were installed before ADSL was even available, and for supplying high quality voice lines, RIMs are the most cost effective method. Now that ADSL is a mature product, the issue of funding the upgrade of RIMs needs to be addressed. The Federal Government does not want to acknowledge that pair gain/RIMS are an issue. They want the big green tick for Telstra so they can flog it off. It can be ignored simply because you "could" get broadband access via ISDN or Satellite. The fact that these options are a lot dearer to install and run than ADSL each month (and are not as fast as ADSL) does not seem to matter. The Government seems set on wasting money on bandaid projects such as "Networking The Nation" and now "HIBIS". As an example, over 2 million "networking the nation" dollars was spend on etown in the Northern Rivers area, and yet Maclean (and other areas) are still without a Wireless access point that was promised as part of the project. This money could have been spent on upgrading more than 20 RIMS and Exchanges in the area and would have delivered affordable Broadband. If the Federal Government put the money towards the upgrading of RIMS and exchanges instead of "feel good" catch phrases, Australia would have a higher broadband take up rate. Then again, the government would be funding assets of an "almost" fully privatised company. This is the catch 22 situation with the full privatisation of Telstra.
Useful Website links
RIM upgrade list & Schedule.
http://telstrawholesale.com/products/docs/access_broadband_minimux.xls
Current free ports report
http://www.telstrawholesale.com/products/docs/access_broadband_adslex03.pdf
Article Discussing Australia's Slowing Broadband take up. Read the "Talkback" messages at the bottom. Rim, Rim, and more Rim...
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/0,2000061791,20273032,00.htm
Senate hearing in February 2003 discussing RIM/Pair Gain issues
http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/commttee/s6139.pdf
Discussion group covering DSL issues (mostly pair gain/rim)
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-threads.cfm?f=100
A great local site pushing for ADSL in Iluka. (Well done and congrats Damien!!!)
Telecommunications website
Another Government site - Higher Bandwidth Scheme.
http://www.telinfo.gov.au/HiBIS%20page.htm
Hints on what to do if you are knocked back on an ADSL application
http://www.dataco.com.au/broadband/telstra_broadband_problems.htm
Telstra Site to Register your Interest for your Area.
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Copyright © 2004. Scott McGuire Gulmarrad. No part of the site is
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