The future of the Internet is in space

The Federal Election approaches. But speaking of major country-changing decisions, let me remind you of possibly the most single important piece of infrastructure Australia has ever seen, the National Broadband Network (NBN). This is how both sides want to handle it...

One side, Labor, wants to roll out NBN to the 'whole' country. At top speeds of 100 Mbps per second, that'd put the country amongst the global broadband elite.

However, they're over budget and running late. Not to mention they've mishandled the whole thing from the beginning. Oh, and I almost forgot...not everyone can access it.

With their current track record we might never get the finished product. Or if we do, it will be defunct before it's completed.

Then you've got the other mob, the Liberals. The 'Libs' that wants to roll out the NBN cheaper, and on time. But the top speed will be a measly 25 Mbps. That's one quarter the speed of the other mob's proposal.

The fact that they want to deliver the world's most antiquated form of NBN is beyond belief. They claim it to be groundbreaking. The only thing it will break is the hopes and dreams of future generations.

Here's the thing. Either way, we all lose with the NBN. One way we'll likely end up with higher taxes to pay for the thing. Or the other way we'll end up with the modern day equivalent of a dial up 56.6k modem.

But there's a simple solution to this political firecracker. One that does away with everything both parties are trying to push forward. What if there was a way to have high speed internet without all this fibre, wiring, cable and nodes?

What if everyone in the country had the same kind of access to internet speeds up to 1200 Mbps? (That's 12 times faster than the NBN.) And by everyone I mean someone standing on top of Uluru and someone at a computer in the heart of Melbourne.

The answer to it all is high-speed broadband connectivity delivered by medium-earth-orbit (MEO) satellites. The future of the internet lies in space.

The company that's taking the internet into space is O3B. The company name stands for 'The Other 3 Billion' in reference to the three billion or so people who need help to access high speed internet.

O3B have launched four satellites into MEO, which is about 8,062km above the earth. They're on track to launch another four satellites in September. With all eight in orbit, O3B plane to go live and operational in November this year.

Make no mistake about it, these guys saw a problem and decided to fix it. The problem they saw was too many countries didn't have proper broadband infrastructure. Understanding the need for the world to be connected, they decided to fix the problem.

For now O3B will service any country within 45 degrees of latitude north and south of the equator...that includes all of Australia.

They will provide speeds as good as the government's proposed NBN and without the limitations to rural and regional areas. There are no delays, disruption, spiraling costs or political hot potato.

In short, satellite high speed broadband is the only way to really get the internet to everyone. Thankfully it is another private company that's decided to do something about it.

O3B has Google as one of its primary backers. It's a clear sign they're onto something good. Because let's face it, when it comes to the internet...Google know what they're doing.

Sadly, there's never any chance of anyone in government having foresight like this. Never a chance innovation will be recognised and implemented for the greater good of Australia.

The glimmer of hope we have is that companies like O3B will allow the average Joe to connect to their services and completely sidestep the shambles that is the NBN. Then we can finally just chalk the NBN down as just another failed government initiative.