The wired city [1973]

This paper was originally published in Telecommunication Journal of Australia, Volume 23, No 3, 1973. It was presented as the opening paper at the UNESCO Seminar on the 'Communication Revolution' held in Melbourne on 20-24 August, 1973.The Australian Post Office has just commenced a complex operation to plan the course of telecommunications in Australia beyond the year 2000 A.D. This article indicates the national significance of the undertaking and the complexities of the issues involved. The potential facilities which may be offered to subscribers are outlined, some of which call for a network of markedly different capabilities to the existing telephone networks. There are conceptual attractions in providing all facilities in a single wideband distribution network but there are also offsetting difficulties which must be examined. Even if a single distribution network is adopted there may well be several switching networks.Facilities of the type envisaged will have far reaching impacts on major facets of society such as town planning, transport patterns, education, structure of the economy and behaviour patterns.The telecommunications planner is entering new and little-charted fields which will call for close relationships with other professional disciplines and extensive consultation with relevant groups in society. Copyright 2010 Australian Computer Society. No part of this article may be reproduced by any means without the written consent of the publisher.