Australia urged to shift investments to mobile coverage for the benefit of agriculture, hotels and cruises

Vodafone chief executive Inaki Berroeta was criticised as “hugely inefficient” by the Australian federal government’s annual $200 million investment to preserve Telstra’s copper network.

As he told ABC earlier this month, instead of indulging in the “obsolete use of public funds,” the government should focus its efforts and money on the National Broadband Network. His reason is simple: Australians are increasingly using their wireless devices, like smartphones, to access the Internet. Vodafone’s own customer base increased its mobile data usage by 70 percent in 2015.

The report adds that the National Farmers Federation supports the executive’s statement by its own demands for connectivity. The organisation points out that Internet-based technology like the GPS-tracking system for their tractors and yield monitoring can improve their produce. Hampering their progress is the lack of strong cell signals in their area.

In addition to that, hotels and cruises are also pushing for extensive mobile coverage. Pam Angelucci, SVP Operations for Roam Boost, wrote on Hospitality that guests want to have access to lightning-speed Internet every time they are staying in a hotel. She points out that there is a need for guests to have full five bars of signal on their cellular device wherever they are — in their room, in the bar, or in the lobby. Dead zones, or places where the signal is weak, are becoming a reason for guest dissatisfaction.

Angelucci said that dead zones must be improved, if not removed, by installing infrastructure that will guarantee strong connectivity. Eighty percent of mobile data connections happen inside a building, and so does 70 percent of mobile voice connections. Meanwhile, wireless data traffic has been up by 50,000 percent in the past seven years. With these numbers, she not only suggests improvement on mobile coverage, but also urges hotel leaders to ensure that Wi-Fi installations cover all areas in the hotel and have a consistent access to strong signals at all times.

Hotels and other land-based industries are upping their mobile coverage by putting in a distributed antenna system (DAS), which expands the cell coverage to all parts of the hotel. Another solution is the network extender from 5BARz International. It is a portable plug-and-play device which boosts up the signals of any cellular devices within a radius of 4,000 metres.

On the other hand, cruises, which have been described as hotels on the ocean, are also beefing up their Internet infrastructure because of their passengers’ frequent use of social media. According to Hellenic Shipping News, Disney Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, and Pullmantur Cruises have taken the lead in improving their bandwidth signal. Brent Horwitz, president of the cruise and ferry business unit at satellite communications provider EMC, elaborated on this development.

“Cruise ship operators are increasing the bandwidth on each ship by 25 percent every year. And they need to upgrade the wireless networks every two or three years. This is largely driven by demand for social media and the fact that 60 percent of Internet content is now video. So ships need more bandwidth to keep up with demand,” he stated.

Horwitz’s forecast might very well apply to all other industries, “Internet-remote” or not. Governments such as Australia’s must rethink their strategy in rewiring their stretches of land. Farmers are asking for improved Internet services to produce more and better food. Hotels are finding that guests can no longer tolerate “dead zones.” Shipping lines are seeking ways to overcome the obstacles of ocean and great distance to ensure that their passengers’ social media interaction go uninterrupted. Ultimately, connectivity is now regarded as a critical element of progress, and issues such as distance, far-off locations, and the lack of Internet infrastructure are being listed as challenges that must be addressed.