-
Related
A series of low-key meetings are underway in Wellington, ahead of the offficial opening on Monday of a conference on the future of internet addresses.
ICANN, the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers, runs the internet address system. Since Saturday, government officials from ICANN's 90 member nations have been meeting on policy issues behind closed doors.
Big issues include the proposed xxx domain, and a draft deal renewing a private sector monopoly over the vast dot-com domain. ICANN meets in public from Monday.
Internet New Zealand says delegates at the conference won't have to put up with the kind of broadband services available to most New Zealanders.
The meeting of the internet's international governing body is a first for New Zealand, and 750 delegates are expected to attend.
Wellington cable company CityLink has laid four kilometres of extra cable for the event, providing on-call wireless and fixed internet access.
Internet New Zealand president Colin Jackson says delegates will expect and get top IT services.
But while delegates have free wireless internet access throughout the conference buildings, back at their hotels some felt the $36 charge for 24 hours of broadband access was extortionate for a limited service.
"I was surprised it's limited to 50 megabytes on 24 hours, and each excessive megabyte you pay on top. That's something I've never experienced anywhere I've gone to around the world, except possibly the middle of China," Robert Birkner a delegate from Germany says.
It is widely accepted that the future growth of our economy is dependent on having broadband access at an affordable rate.
The government wants New Zealand to be one of the highest users of broadband by 2010, but many people visiting for this conference have been surprised just how far behind the country is, both in respect of both uptake and the speed.
"I'm concerned for New Zealand's economy that there be
significant uptake of broadband facilities not only in the
residential sector but in the business sector," ICANN chairman Vint
Cerf says.
