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Title

Broadband in the burbs: NBN infrastructure, spectrum politics and the digital home

Author(s)

Apperley, Tom;  Nansen, Bjorn;  Arnold, Michael;  Wilken, Rowan

Abstract

The convergence of suburban homes and digital media and communications technologies is set to undergo a major shift as next-generation broadband infrastructures are installed. Embodied in the Australian Government’s National Broadband Network (NBN) and the delivery of fibre-optic cable to the front door of every suburban home, is an anticipated future of digital living that will transform the landscape and experience of suburban life. Drawing from our research, and from industry, policy and media documents, we map some scenarios of the NBN rollout in its early stages to show that this imaginary of seamless broadband in the suburbs and the transformation of digital homes it anticipates is challenged by local cultural and material geographies, which we describe as a politics of spectrum.

Publication type

Journal article

Research centre

Swinburne University of Technology. Faculty of Life and Social Sciences

Source

M/C Journal, Vol. 14, no. 4 (Aug 2011)

Publication year

2011

FOR Code(s)

1902 Film, Television and Digital Media;  2001 Communication and Media Studies;  2002 Cultural Studies;  200101 Communication Studies;  200212 Screen and Media Culture

Keyword(s)

Australia;  Broadband networks;  Connectivity;  Digital homes;  Infrastructure;  Installation policies;  Internet;  National Broadband Network;  NBN;  Spectrum politics;  Suburbia

Publisher

Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland University of Technology

ISSN

1441-2616

Publisher URL

http://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/viewArticle/400

Copyright

Copyright © 2011 the authors. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial - No Derivatives 3.0 License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).

Full text

Peer reviewed