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Data
October 2007
What data services are available in Tooraweenah and the local area?
The following is a summary by a local telecommunications expert; James
Cameron. It is not exhaustive, and there aren't any kickbacks
involved.
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Service
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Description
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Costs
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Providers
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56k/33k6 dialup
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Conventional modem dialup service, people in the village get about
48k/33k6, people more than 4km distant get 33k6/33k6, people more than
8km distant get 28k8/28k8, others get between 14k/14k and 19k2/19k2.
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Installation: ~$140 for telephone line (for a second line if needed),
and ~$40 to ~$80 for modem.
Monthly costs: ~$35 for telephone line rental (for a second line if
needed), ~$5.50 to ~$30.00 for service provider depending on plan, and
~$2,00 to ~$10.00 for local calls.
(last checked March 2005)
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bigpond.com (National)
hwy.com.au (Mudgee based, delivered by Comindico virtual POP in Dubbo)
tpg.com.au (Sydney based, delivered by satellite downlink to Gilgandra, uplink in California)
and others
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64k/64k or 128k/128k ISDN
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ETSI ISDN service, local calls may be timed, excellent voice quality,
ought to work for people within about 10km of the village. May be
prone to damage by lightning strike.
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Not investigated.
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Telstra (for the service delivery)
bigpond.com, hwy.com.au, tpg.com.au, and others (for data carriage)
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ADSL or DSL
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Telstra's telephone network was upgraded in the Tooraweenah exchange,
involving upgrades to the fibre connection from Dubbo. The service is
limited to about 7km, depending on the quality of the cabling.
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Installation: from ~$190 for modem.
Monthly costs: from ~$30 per month for 200Mb, continuous access.
(last checked October 2007)
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Telstra (for the service delivery)
bigpond.com, hwy.com.au, tpg.com.au, and others (for data carriage)
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3g wireless
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Telstra's 3G network, with towers at Needle Mountain, Gilgandra and
Gulargambone. With line of sight, peak data rate is 7.2 megabits per
second, faster than ADSL at 1.5 megabits per second. The long run
data rate is limited according to plan.
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Installation: ~$300 (portable) or ~$250 (desktop) for modem.
Monthly costs: from ~$40 per month for 200Mb, continuous access, 12 month contract.
(last checked October 2007)
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Telstra
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256k/64k and 512k/128k two-way satellite
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Two-way satellite service, with HiBIS funding if you are outside ISDN
coverage, in lightning prone area, or on low quality copper cabling.
Might be provisioned by DirecWay, a US based satellite service.
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Installation: ~$129,
Monthly costs: ~$100 for 256k, 500Mb limit, 18 month contract.
(last checked December 2006)
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Telstra
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256k/64k and faster two-way satellite
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Two-way satellite service, with HiBIS funding if you are outside ISDN
coverage. Shaped plan so you don't pay penalty rates for excessive
downloads, instead it slows down to 64k.
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Installation: ~$0,
Monthly costs: ~$40 for 500Mb data 256k down 64k up, 64k when shaped, 18 month contract, prices locked for three years.
(last checked December 2006)
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Bordernet
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256k/64k and faster two-way satellite
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Two-way satellite service, with HiBIS funding if you are outside ISDN
coverage. Not a shaped plan. May be provisioned by IPstar, a Thai
satellite.
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Installation: ~$0,
Monthly costs: ~$30 for 500Mb data 256k down 64k up,
(last checked December 2006)
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lisp.com.au
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If there are any factual errors, please contact
us.
History
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Date
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Service Commenced
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Providers
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< 1998
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33k6 dialup, timed calls, STD rates to Eumungerie, then a local call
redialler to Dubbo.
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Lisp (later became Highway Internet Services)
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~ 1998 October (?)
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56k dialup, local call rate, Gilgandra point of presence with
satellite downlink and ISDN uplink, installed in council chambers,
funded by Networking the Nation and Farmwide. Tax dollars hard at
work fighting the existing service providers.
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Sydney based Total Peripherals Group (tpg.com.au)
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~ 2000
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33k6 dialup, local call rate, Gilgandra point of presence with ISDN
downlink and uplink, installed at Gilgandra Marketing Coop, self
funded.
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Mudgee based Highway Internet Services (hwy.com.au)
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~ 2001
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56k dialup moved to Gilgandra Community Technology Centre, with
satellite downlink and ISDN uplink. The CTC shared the satellite
downlink.
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Highway
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~ 2002 ?
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Local call deregulation; sudden availability of many city based ISPs
through locality bonded local call numbers.
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Many
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~ 2002 ?
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56k dialup moved to the mega POP model, using Comindico's Dubbo POP.
The CTC continued as sole satellite user.
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Highway
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~ 2002 ?
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56k dialup on local call costs available to everyone via Bigpond.
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Telstra
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~ 2003
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Despite the local call changes, TPG decides to continue to use local
equipment. Port count increase for 56k dialup, possibly a change of
data rate on the satellite downlink. Never did find out.
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TPG
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~ 2004
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ADSL available in Gilgandra, and the CTC changes over to ADSL.
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Telstra
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~ 2004
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CDMA 1x RTT service rollout; four potential customers attend the
meeting in Gilgandra.
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Telstra
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~ 2004
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Two-way HiBIS funded satellite service rollout.
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Telstra
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2005 March
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Tooraweenah CTC still only runs a 56k modem.
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N/A
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2006 November
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Tooraweenah exchange upgrade complete, ADSL services being provisioned.
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Telstra, and others
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2006 December
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Telstra 3G network deployment, with new wireless devices available.
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Telstra.
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2007 September
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Telstra 3G network data rate increased to 7.2 megabits per second,
with new firmware for existing modems.
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Telstra.
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